afflBftt&gBaral 



m BSi 

I ill 

Bill 

ffiW Mini 

rain ^Hfirattftttiu 

1 1 



1 

Ml 



mm I 

> ■/■ Irani 

IB1 

I I ill 1 

I iii 
H m 

mBMm 

Hli 

■i ■■ Wm\ 

nu ij|g[R 

■■■■ Hft 

flfl RafflJH* 







■■■I ioSSBBaH iftKJ8 



\ v ~ 















. ^ 






























































































^v 






























• 



jtd 












^A ^ 









■ 






^ 



<s> V- 






<*k ^ 
















\^ x 



^f> 
























v o 



& 


































VCELD. 
XOT LOOK UP, BIT XLTTERD LO^V", 
SOME MINGLED SOUND S IK AT NONE FLIGHT SHOW. 

Canto f 



PRINTS© FOR- C M_A.TR_L.ia 5 S. PTE-A-SXIS &C? 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES ; 



FIELD OF WATERLOO, 



©tfjer JJccms. 






SIR WALTER SCOTT. 



A NEW EDITION, WITH THE AUTHOR S LATEST CORRECTIONS. 




NEW-YORK: 

C.S.FRANCIS & CO. 252 BROADWAY. 

BOSTON: 
J. H. FRANCIS, 128 WASHING TO N-ST. 

1843. 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME FIFTH. 



Notice . . Page 5 

Introduction to the Lord of the Isles 7 

The Lord of the Isles. 

Advertisement 15 

Canto I . . 17 

II. 47 

III 81 

IV Ill 

V. .145 

VI 181 

Appendix to the Lord of the Isles 223 

The Field of Waterloo 295 

Conclusion 324 

Songs and Miscellanies. 

Saint Cloud 329 

The Dance of Death 331 

Romance of Dunois 337 

The Troubadour 339 

From the French 340 

Song for the Anniversary Meeting of the Pitt Club 

of Scotland 341 

Song, on the Lifting of the Banner of the House of 
Buccleuch, at a great Foot-Ball Match on Car- 

terhaugh 343 

Jock of Hazeldean 345 

Lullaby of an Infant Chief 347 

(3) 



CONTENTS. 

Pibroch of Donald Dhu 348 

Nora's Vow 350 

Maegregor's Gathering 352 

Donald Caird 's Come Again 354 

Mackrimmon's Lament 357 

On Ettrick Forest's Mountains Dun 358 

The Sun upon the Weirdlaw Hill ....... 360 

The Maid of Isla 361 

The Foray 362 

The Monks of Bangor's March 364 

Farewell to the Muse 366 

Epitaph on Mrs. Erskine 367 

Mr. Kemble's Farewell Address, on taking leave of 

the Edinburgh stage 368 

The Search after Happiness 371 

Epilogue to the Appeal 384 

Epilogue to the Drama founded on St. Ronan's Well, 386 

Epilogue 390 

Inscription for the Monument of the Rev. George Scott 391 

The Bannatyne Club 392 



NOTICE. 



[The composition of "The Lord of the 
Isles," as we now have it in the Author's MS., 
seems to have been begun at Abbotsford, in the 
Autumn of 1814, and it ended at Edinburgh, 
the 16th of December. Some part of Canto I. 
had probably been committed to writing in a 
rougher form earlier in the year. The original 
Quarto appeared on the 2d of January, 1815. 

It may be mentioned, that those parts of this 
poem which were written at Abbotsford, were 
composed almost all in the presence of Sir 
Walter Scott's family, and many in that of 
casual visitors also ; the original cottage which 
he then occupied not affording him any means 
of retirement. Neither conversation nor music 
seemed to disturb him.] 

1 # (5) 



I 



INTRODUCTION 



TO 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 



• 



INTRODUCTION 



TO 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 



I could hardly have chosen a subject more popular 
in Scotland, than any thing connected with the Bruce's 
history, unless I had attempted that of Wallace. But 
I am decidedly of opinion, that a popular, or what is 
called a taking title, though well qualified to ensure 
the publishers against loss, and clear their shelves of 
the original impression, is rather apt to be hazardous 
than otherwise to the reputation of the author. He 
who attempts a subject of distinguished popularity, has 
not the privilege of awakening the enthusiasm of his 
audience; on the contrary, it is already awakened, and 
glows, it may be, more ardently than that of the author 
himself. In this case, the warmth of the author is infe- 
rior to that of the party whom he addresses, who has, 
therefore, little chance of being, in Bayes's phrase, 
" elevated and surprised" by what he has thought of 
with more enthusiasm than the author. The sense of 
this risk, joined to the consciousness of striving against 
wind and tide, made the task of composing the pro- 
posed Poem somewhat heavy and hopeless ; but, like 
the prize-fighter in "As You Like It," I was to wrestle 
for my reputation, and not neglect any advantage. In 

(9) 



10 INTRODUCTION TO THE 

a most agreeable pleasure-voyage, which I have tried 
to commemorate in the Introduction to the new edition 
of the " Pirate," I visited, in social and friendly com- 
pany, 1 the coasts and islands of Scotland, and made 
myself acquainted with the localities of which I meant 
to treat. But this voyage, which was in every other 
effect so delightful, was in its conclusion saddened by 
one of those strokes of fate which so often mingle 
themselves with our pleasures. The accomplished and 
excellent person who had recommended to me the 
subject for " The Lay of the Last Minstrel," and to 
whom I proposed to inscribe what I already suspected 
might be the close of my poetical labours, was unex- 
pectedly removed from the world, which she seemed 
only to have visited for purposes of kindness and be- 
nevolence. It is needless to say how the author's 
feelings, or the composition of his trifling work, were 
affected by a circumstance which occasioned so many 
tears and so much sorrow. 2 True it is, that "The 
Lord of the Isles" was concluded, unwillingly and in 
haste, under the painful feeling of one who has a task 
which must be finished, rather than with the ardour 
of one who endeavours to perform that task well. Al- 
though the Poem cannot be said to have made a fa- 
vourable impression on the public, the sale of fifteen 

1 [See a note to the lines superscribed " Pharos loquitur," 
included in volume 1st ; and see also " Fragments of a Tour in 
the Hebrides," &c, printed in the Edinburgh Annual Register 
for 1812.] 

2 [Harriet, Duchess of Buccleuch, died 24th August, 1814. Sir 
Walter Scott received the mournful intelligence while visiting 
the Giant's Causeway, and immediately returned home,] 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 11 

thousand copies enabled the author to retreat from 
the field with the honours of war. 

In the meantime, what was necessarily to be con- 
sidered as a failure, was much reconciled to my feel- 
ings by the success attending my attempt in another 
species of composition. " Waverley" had, under strict 
incognito, taken its flight from the press, just before I 
set out upon the voyage already mentioned : it had now 
made its way to popularity, and the success of that 
work and the volumes which followed, was sufficient 
to have satisfied a greater appetite for applause than 
I have at any time possessed. 1 

I may as well add in this place, that, being much 
urged by my intimate friend, now unhappily no more, 
William Erskine, (a Scottish judge, by the title of Lord 
Kinedder,) I agreed to write the little romantic tale 
called the " Bridal of Triermain ;" but it was on the 
condition, that he should make no serious effort to dis- 
own the composition, if report should lay it at his door. 
As he was more than suspected of a taste for poetry, 
and as I took care, in several places, to mix something 
which might resemble (as far as was in my power) my 
friend's feeling and manner, the train easily caught, and 
two large editions were sold. A third being called for, 
Lord Kinedder became unwilling to aid any longer a 
deception which was going rather farther than he ex- 
pected or desired, and the real author's name was given. 
Upon another occasion, I sent up another of these tri- 
fles, which, like schoolboy's kites, served to show how 
the wind of popular taste was setting. The manner 
was supposed to be that of a rude minstrel, or Scald, in 

1 [The first edition of Waverley appeared in July, 1814.] 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

opposition to the " Bridal of Triermain," which was 
designed to belong rather to the Italian school. This 
new fugitive piece was called " Harold the Dauntless ;" l 
and I am still astonished at my having committed the 
gross error of selecting the very name which Lord 
Byron had made so famous. It encountered rather an 
odd fate. My ingenious friend, Mr. James Hogg, had 
published, about the same time, a work called the 
" Poetic Mirror," containing imitations of the principal 
living poets. 2 There was in it a very good imitation of 
my own style, which bore such a resemblance to " Har- 
old the Dauntless," that there was no discovering the 
original from the imitation ; and I believe that many 
who took the trouble of thinking upon the subject, were 
rather of opinion that my ingenious friend was the true 
and not the fictitious Simon Pure. Since this period, 
which was in the year 1816, the Author has not been 
an intruder on the public by any poetical work of im- 
portance. 

W. S. 

Abbotsford, April, 1830. 

1 [" Harold the Dauntless" was first published in a small 12mo 
volume, December, 1816.] 
a [Mr. Hogg's " Poetic Mirror" appeared in October, 1816.] 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

A POEM. 
IN SIX CANTOS 



Vol. V. 2 



15 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The scene of this poem lies, at first, in the castle 
of Artornish, on the coast of Argyleshire ; and, after- 
wards, in the Islands of Skye and Arran, and upon the 
coast of Ayrshire. Finally, it is laid near Stirling. 
The story opens in the spring of the year 1307, when 
Bruce, who had been driven out of Scotland by the 
English and the Barons who adhered to that foreign 
interest, returned from the Island of Rachrin on the 
coast of Ireland, again to assert his claims to the Scot- 
tish crown. Many of the personages and incidents 
introduced are of historical celebrity. The authorities 
used are chiefly those of the venerable Lord Hailes, 
as well entitled to be called the restorer of Scottish 
history, as Bruce the restorer of Scottish monarchy ; 
and of Archdeacon Barbour, a correct edition of whose 
Metrical History of Robert Bruce 1 will soon, I trust, 
appear, under the care of my learned friend, the Rev. 
Dr. Jamieson. 






Abbotsford, 10th December 9 1814. 



[The work alluded to appeared in 1820, under the title of 
" The Bruce and Wallace." 2 vols. 4to.] 



THE 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FIRST. 



2* 



19 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FIRST. 



Autumn departs — but still his mantle's fold 
Rests on the groves of noble Somerville, 1 
Beneath a shroud of russet dropp'd with gold 
Tweed and his tributaries mingle still; 
Hoarser the wind, and deeper sounds the rill, 
Yet lingering notes of sylvan music swell, 
The deep-toned cushat, and the redbreast shrill; 
And yet some tints of summer splendour tell 
When the broad sun sinks down on Ettrick's western 
fell. 

Autumn departs — from Gala's fields 2 no more 
Come rural sounds our kindred banks to cheer ; 
Blent with the stream, and gale that wafts it o'er 
No more the distant reaper's mirth we hear. 

1 [John, fifteenth Lord Somerville, illustrious for his patriotic 
devotion to the science of agriculture, resided frequently in his 
beautiful villa called the Pavilion, situated on the Tweed over 
against Melrose, and was an intimate friend and almost daily 
companion of the poet, from whose windows at Abbotsford his 
lordship's plantations formed a prominent object. Lord S. died 
in 1819.] 

8 [The river Gala, famous in song, flows into the Tweed a few 
hundred yards below Abbotsford ; but probably the word Gala 
here stands for the poet's neighbour and kinsman, and much 
attached friend, John Scott, Esq. of Gala.] 



20 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto 1. 

The last blithe shout hath died upon our ear, 
And harvest-home hath hush'd the clanging wain, 
On the waste hill no forms of life appear, 
Save where, sad laggard of the autumnal train, 
Some age-struck wanderer gleans few ears of scatter'd 
grain. 

Deem'st thou these sadden'd scenes have pleasure 

still, 
Lovest thou through Autumn's fading realms to stray, 
To see the heath-flower wither'd on the hill, 
To listen to the wood's expiring lay, 
To note the red leaf shivering on the spray, 
To mark the last bright tints the mountain stain, 
On the waste fields to trace the gleaner's way, 
And moralize on mortal joy and pain? — 
O ! if such scenes thou lovest, scorn not the minstrel 
strain. 

No ! do not scorn, although its hoarser note 
Scarce with the cushat's homely song can vie, 
Though faint its beauties as the tints remote 
That gleam through mist in autumn's evening sky, 
And few as leaves that tremble, sear and dry, 
When wild November hath his bugle wound ; 
Nor mock my toil — a lonely gleaner I, 
Through fields time-wasted, on sad inquest bound, 
Where happier bards of yore have richer harvest 
found. 

So shalt thou list, and haply not unmoved, 
To a wild tale of Albyn's warrior day ; 
In distant lands, by the rough West reproved, 
Still live some relics of the ancient lay. 



Canto L THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 21 

For, when on Coolin's hills the lights decay, 
With such the Seer of Skye the eve beguiles; 
'Tis known amid the pathless wastes of Reay, 
In Harries known, and in Iona's piles, 
Where rest from mortal coil the Mighty of the Isles. 



L 

" Wake, Maid of Lorn ! " the Minstrels sung. 

Thy rugged halls, Artornish ! rung, 1 

And the dark seas, thy towers that lave, 

Heaved on the beach a softer wave, 

As 'mid the tuneful choir to keep 

The diapason of the Deep. 

Lull'd were the winds on Inninmore, 

And green Loch-Alline's woodland shore, 

As if wild woods and waves had pleasure 

In listing to the lovely measure. 

And ne'er to symphony more sweet 

Gave mountain echoes answer meet, 

Since, met from mainland and from isle, 

Ross, Arran, Hay, and Argyle, 

Each minstrel's tributary lay 

Paid homage to the festal day. 

Dull and dishonour'd were the bard, 

Worthless of guerdon and regard, 

Deaf to the hope of minstrel fame, 

Or lady's smiles, his noblest aim, 

Who on that morn's resistless call 

Were silent in Artornish hall. 

1 [See Appendix, Note A.] 



22 THE LORD OP THE ISLES. Canto I. 

II. 
"Wake, Maid of Lorn!" 'twas thus they sung, 
And yet more proud the descant rung, 
"Wake, Maid of Lorn! high right is ours, 
To charm dull sleep from Beauty's bowers; 
Earth, Ocean, Air, have nought so shy 
But owns the power of minstrelsy 
In Lettermore the timid deer 
Will pause, the harp's wild chime to hear; 
Rude Heiskar's seal through surges dark 
Will long pursue the minstrel's bark; 1 
To list his notes, the eagle proud 
Will poise him on Ben-Cailliach's cloud; 
Then let not Maiden's ear disdain 
The summons of the minstrel train, 
But, while our harps wild music make, 
Edith of Lorn, awake, awake ! 

III. 

"O wake, while Dawn, with dewy shine, 

Wakes Nature's charms to vie with thine ! 

She bids the mottled thrush rejoice 

To mate thy melody of voice ; 

The dew that on the violet lies 

Mocks the dark lustre of thine eyes ; 

But, Edith, wake, and all we see 

Of sweet and fair shall yield to thee ! "— 



The seal displays a taste for music, which could scarcely be 
expected from his habits and local predilections. They will long 
follow a boat in which any musical instrument is played, and even 
a tune simply whistled has attractions for them. The Dean of 
the Isles says of Heiskar, a small uninhabited rock, about twelve 
(Scottish) miles from the isle of Uist, that an infinite slaughter 
of seals takes place there. 



Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 23 

" She comes not yet," grey Ferrand cried ; 
" Brethren, let softer spell be tried, 
Those notes prolong'd, that soothing theme, 
Which best may mix with Beauty's dream, 
And whisper, with their silvery tone, 
The hope she loves, yet fears to own." 
He spoke, and on the harp-strings died 
The strains of flattery and of pride; 
More soft, more low, more tender fell 
The lay of love he bade them tell. 

IV. 

" Wake, Maid of Lorn ! the moments fly, 

Which yet that maiden-name allow ; 
Wake, Maiden, wake ! the hour is nigh, 

When Love shall claim a plighted vow. 
By Fear, thy bosom's fluttering guest, 

By Hope, that soon shall fears remove, 
We bid thee break the bonds of rest, 

And wake thee at the call of Love ! 

" Wake, Edith, wake ! in yonder bay 

Lies many a galley gaily mann'd, 
We hear the merry pibrochs play, 

We see the streamers' silken band. 
What Chieftain's praise these pibrochs swell, 

What crest is on these banners wove, 
The harp, the minstrel, dare not tell — 

The riddle must be read by Love." 



Retired her maiden train among, 
Edith of Lorn received the song, 



24 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto I. 

But tamed the minstrel's pride had been 

That had her cold demeanour seen : 

For not upon her cheek awoke 

The glow of pride when Flattery spoke, 

Nor could their tenderest numbers bring 

One sigh responsive to the string. 

As vainly had her maidens vied 

In skill to deck the princely bride. 

Her locks, in dark-brown length array'd, 

Cathleen of Ulne, 't was thine to braid ; 

Young Eva with meet reverence drew 

On the light foot the silken shoe, 

While on the ankle's slender round 

Those strings of pearl fair Bertha wound, 

That, bleach'd Lochryan's depths within, 

Seem'd dusky still on Edith's skin. 

But Einion, of experience old, 

Had weightiest task — the mantle's fold 

In many an artful plait she tied, 

To show the form it seem'd to hide, 

Till on the floor descending roll'd 

Its waves of crimson blent w r ith gold. 

VI. 
O ! lives there now so cold a maid, 
Who thus in beauty's pomp array'd, 
In beauty's proudest pitch of power, 
And conquest won — the bridal hour — 
With every charm that wins the heart, 
By Nature given, enhanced by Art, 
Could yet the fair reflection view, 
In the bright mirror pictured true, 
And not one dimple on her cheek 
A tell-tale consciousness bespeak? — 



Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 25 

Lives still such maid? — Fair damsels, say, 
For further vouches not my lay, 
Save that such lived in Britain's isle, 
When Lorn's bright Edith scorn'd to smile. 

VII. 

But Morag, to whose fostering care 

Proud Lorn had given his daughter fair, 

Morag, who saw a mother's aid 

By all a daughter's love repaid, 

(Strict was that bond — most kind of all — 

Inviolate in Highland hall — ) 

Grey Morag sate a space apart, 

In Edith's eyes to read her heart. 

In vain the attendants' fond appeal 

To Morag's skill, to Morag's zeal ; 

She mark'd her child receive their care, 

Cold as the image sculptured fair, 

(Form of some sainted patroness,) 

Which cloister'd maids combine to dress; 

She mark'd — and knew her nursling's heart 

In the vain pomp took little part. 

Wistful a while she gazed — then press'd 

The maiden to her anxious breast 

In finish'd loveliness — and led 

To where a turret's airy head, 

Slender and steep, and battled round, 

O'erlook'd, dark Mull! thy mighty Sound, 1 

1 The Sound of Mull, which divides that island from the con- 
tinent of Scotland, is one of the most striking scenes which the 
Hebrides afford to the traveller. Sailing from Oban to Aros, or 
Tobermory, through a narrow channel, yet deep enough to bear 
Vol. V. 3 



/! 






26 THE LORD OP THE ISLES. Canto I. 

Where thwarting tides, with mingled roar, 
Fart thy swarth hills from Morven's shore. 

VIII. 

"Daughter," she said, « these seas behold, 
Round twice a hundred islands roll'd, 
From Hirt, that hears their northern roar, 
lo the green Ilay's fertile shore; 1 

vessels of the largest burden, he has on his left the bold and 

rrsr t: t Muli; on the iisu th ° se ******** 

Argyleshire, called Morven, or Morvern, successively indented 
by deep salt-water lochs, running up many miles inland To the 
south-eastward arise a prodigious range of mountains, among 
winch Cruachan Ben is pre-eminent. And to the north-east J 

hills Mai ^ ^ Pi f UreSqUe ra "^ rft «» Ardnamurchan 
mils. Many rumous castles, situated generally upon cliffs ove;. 

an a rZl e ff 0Cean, add i nter6St t0 th6 " Cene - Th0Se «»™°y 
and Dunstaffnage are first passed, then that of Duart, formerly 

belonging to the chief of the warlike and powerful sep TmZ 
ean S a nd th rf ^ ^.^ ^ P ac 

the Family Legend. Still passing on to the northward, Arto'- 

li a M beC T e VisMe UP0D the °PP° site ^re ; and, 

lastly, Mmgarry, and other ruins of less distinguished note £ 
fine weather, a grander and more impressive scene, both from £ 
natural beauties and associations with ancient history andTauS 
lion, can hardly be imagined. When the weather is rough the 
passage is both difficult and dangerous, from the narrowness of 

which n'ri m ^ fr0m thG nUmber of *""*» *** °ut of 
mak L t 7 ' nUmb6r ° f C ° nflicti ^ and thwa "ing tides, 

and Zt, 7 aV T ^ f ril ° US t0 ° pen *«* The «*«» flaw 
and gusts of wind which issue without a moment's warning from 

weaker ?' "V^" *""*»**• S ° that * settled 
~ ' t ranger J lf n0t much ^customed to the sea, may 

cTneZtfiL 10 %° thei SUMime SenSati0ns excited ^ 
scene that feelmg of dignity which arises from a sense of danger. 

hundrS "T^ ° f i he WeStem isleS of Scotland exceeds two 
hundred, of whicu St. Kilda is the most northerly, anciently 



Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 27 

Or mainland turn, where many a tower 
Owns thy bold brother's feudal power, 
Each on its own dark cape reclined, 
And listening to its own wild wind, 
From where Mingarry, sternly placed, 
O'erawes the woodland and the waste, 1 



called Hirth, or Hirt, probably from " earth," being in fact the 
whole globe to its inhabitants. Hay, which now belongs almost 
entirely to Walter Campbell, Esq. of Shawfield, is by far the most 
fertile of the Hebrides, and has been greatly improved under the 
spirited and sagacious management of the present proprietor. 
This was in ancient times the principal abode of the Lords of the 
Isles, being, if not the largest, the most important island of their 
archipelago. In Martin's time, some relics of their grandeur 
were yet extant. " Loch-Finlagan, about three miles in circum- 
ference, affords salmon, trouts, and eels : this lake lies in the cen- 
tre of the isle. The isle Finlagan, from which this lake hath its 
name, is in it. It's famous for being once the court in which the 
great Mac-Donald, King of the Isles, had his residence ; his houses, 
chapel, &c. are now ruinous. His guards de corps, called Lucht- 
tach, kept guard on the lake-side nearest to the isle ; the walls 
of their houses are still to be seen there. The high court of ju- 
dicature, consisting of fourteen, sat always here ; and there was 
an appeal to them from all the courts in the isles : the eleventh 
share of the sum in debate was due to the principal judge. There 
was a big stone of seven foot square, in which there was a deep 
impression made to receive the feet of Mac-Donald ; for he was 
crowned King of the Isles standing in this stone, and swore that 
he would continue his vassals in the possession of their lands, and 
do exact justice to all his subjects : and then his father's sword 
was put into his hand. The Bishop of Argyle and seven priests 
anointed him king, in presence of all the heads of the tribes in 
the isles and continent, and were his vassals ; at which time the 
orator rehearsed a catalogue of his ancestors," &c. — Martin's 
Account of the Western Isles, 8vo, London, 1716, p. 240, 1. 
1 [See Appendix, Note B.] 



28 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto I. 

To where Dunstaffnage hears the raging 
Of Connal with his rocks engaging. 
Think'st thou, amid this ample round, 
A single brow but thine has frown'd, 
To sadden this auspicious morn, 
That bids the daughter of high Lorn 
Impledge her spousal faith to wed 
The heir of mighty Somerled? 1 
Ronald, from many a hero sprung 
The fair, the valiant, and the young, 
Lord of the Isles, whose lofty name 2 
A thousand bards have given to fame, 

1 Somerled was thane of Argyle and Lord of the Isles, about 
the middle of the twelfth century. He seems to have exercised 
his authority in both capacities, independent of the crown of Scot- 
land, against which he often stood in hostility. He made various 
incursions upon the western lowlands during the reign of Mal- 
colm IV., and seems to have made peace with him upon the terms 
of an independent prince, about the year 1157. In 1164, he 
resumed the war against Malcolm, and invaded Scotland with a 
large, but probably a tumultuary army, collected in the isles, in 
the mainland of Argyleshire, and in the neighbouring provinces 
of Ireland. He was defeated and slain in an engagement with 
a very inferior force, near Renfrew. His son Gillicolane fell in 
the same battle. This mighty chieftain married a daughter of 
Olaus, King of Man. From him our genealogists deduce two 
dynasties, distinguished in the stormy history of the middle ages ; 
the Lords of the Isles descended from his elder son Ronald, — and 
the Lords of Lorn, who took their sirname of M'Dougal, as 
descended of his second son Dougal. That Somerled's territories 
upon the mainland, and upon the islands, should have been thus 
divided between his two sons, instead of passing to the elder 
exclusively, may illustrate the uncertainty of descent among the 
great Highland families, which we shall presently notice. 

3 [See Appendix, Note C] 






Canto L THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 29 

The mate of monarchs, and allied 
On equal terms with England's pride. — 
From chieftain's tower to bondsman's cot, 
Who hears the tale, and triumphs not? 
The damsel dons her best attire, 
The shepherd lights his beltane fire, 
Joy, joy ! each warder's horn hath sung, 
Joy, joy ! each matin bell hath rung ; 
The holy priest says grateful mass, 
Loud shouts each hardy galla-glass, 
No mountain den holds outcast boor, 
Of heart so dull, of soul so poor, 
But he hath flung his task aside, 
And claim'd this morn for holy-tide; 
Yet, empress of this joyful day, 
Edith is sad while all are gay." — 

IX. 

Proud Edith's soul came to her eye, 
Resentment check'd the struggling sigh, 
Her hurrying hand indignant dried 
The burning tears of injured pride — 
" Morag, forbear ! or lend thy praise 
To swell yon hireling harpers' lays; 
Make to yon maids thy boast of power, 
That they may waste a wondering hour, 
Telling of banners proudly borne, 
Of pealing bell and bugle-horn, 
Or, theme more dear, of robes of price, 
Crownlets and gauds of rare device. 
But thou, experienced as thou art, 
Think'st thou with these to cheat the heart, 
3* 



30 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto L 

That, bound in strong affection's chain, 
Looks for return and looks in vain? 
No! sum thine Edith's wretched lot 
In these brief words — He loves her not ! 

X. 

"Debate it not — too long I strove 

To call his cold observance love, 

All blinded by the league that styled 

Edith of Lorn,: — while yet a child, 

She tripp'd the heath by Morag's side, — 

The brave Lord Ronald's destined bride. 

Ere yet I saw him, while afar 

His broadsword blazed in Scotland's war, 

Train'd to believe our fates the same, 

My bosom throbb'd when Ronald's name 

Came gracing Fame's heroic tale, 

Like perfume on the summer gale. 

What pilgrim sought our halls, nor told 

Of Ronald's deeds in battle bold ; 

Who touch'd the harp to heroes' praise, 

But his achievements swell'd the lays? 

Even Morag — not a tale of fame 

Was hers but closed with Ronald's name. 

He came ! and all that had been told 

Of his high worth seem'd poor and cold, 

Tame, lifeless, void of energy, 

Unjust to Ronald and to me ! 

XI. 

" Since then, what thought had Edith's heart 
And gave not plighted love its part! — 
And what requital? cold delay — 
Excuse that shunn'd the spousal day. — 



J ' Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 31 

It dawns, and Ronald is not here! — 

Hunts he Bentalla's nimble deer, 

Or loiters he in secret dell 

To bid some lighter love farewell, 

And swear, that though he may not scorn 

A daughter of the House of Lorn, 1 

Yet, when these formal rites are o'er, 

Again they meet, to part no more?" 



XII. 

— "Hush, daughter, hush! thy doubts remove, 

More nobly think of Ranald's love. 

Look, where beneath the castle grey 

His fleet unmoor from Aros bay! 

See'st not each galley's topmast bend, 

As on the yards the sails ascend? 

Hiding the dark-blue land they rise, 

Like the white clouds on April skies; 

The shouting vassals man the oars, 

Behind them sink Mull's mountain shores, 

Onward their merry course they keep, 

Through whistling breeze and foaming deep. 

And mark the headmost, seaward cast, 

Stoop to the freshening gale her mast, 

As if she vail'd its banner'd pride, 

To greet afar her prince's bride ! 

Thy Ronald comes, and while in speed 

His galley mates the flying steed, 

He chides her sloth!" — Fair Edith sigh'd, 

Blush'd, sadly smiled, and thus replied : — 

1 [See Appendix, Note D.] 



32 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto I. 

XIII. 

"Sweet thought, but vain! — No, Morag! mark, 

Type of his course, yon lonely bark, 

That oft hath shifted helm and sail, 

To win its way against the gale. 

Since peep of morn, my vacant eyes 

Have view'd by fits the course she tries; 

Now, though the darkening scud comes on, 

And dawn's fair promises be gone, 

And though the weary crew may see 

Our sheltering haven on their lee, 

Still closer to the rising wind 

They strive their shivering sail to bind, 

Still nearer to the shelves' dread verge 

At every tack her course they urge, 

As if they fear'd Artornish more 

Than adverse winds and breakers' roar." 

XIV. 
Sooth spoke the Maid. — Amid the tide 
The skiff she mark'd lay tossing sore, 
And shifted oft her stooping side, 
In weary tack from shore to shore. 
Yet on her destined course no more 

She gain'd, of forward way, 
Than what a minstrel may compare 
To the poor meed which peasants share, 

Who toil the livelong day; 
And such the risk her pilot braves, 

That oft, before she wore, 
Her boltsprit kiss'd the broken waves, 
Where in white foam the ocean raves 

Upon the shelving shore. 



L 



nto 1. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 33 

Yet, to their destined purpose true, 
Undaunted toiPd her hardy crew, 

Nor look'd where shelter lay, 
j\ T or for Artornish Castle drew, 

Nor steer'd for Aros bay. 

XV. 

Thus while they strove with wind and seas, 
Borne onward by the willing breeze, 

Lord Ronald's fleet swept by, 
Streamer'd with silk, and trick'd with gold, 
Mann'd with the noble and the bold 

Of Island chivalry. 
Around their prows the ocean roars, 
And chafes beneath their thousand oars, 

Yet bears them on their way : 
So chafes the war-horse in his might, 
That fieldward bears some valiant knight, 
Champs, till both bit and boss are white, 

But, foaming, must obey. 
On each gay deck they might behold 
Lances of steel and crests of gold, 
And hauberks with their burnish'd fold, 

That shimmer'd fair and free ; 
And each proud galley, as she pass'd, 
To the wild cadence of the blast 

Gave wilder minstrelsy. 
Full many a shrill triumphant note 
Saline and Scallastle bade float 

Their misty shores around ; 
And Morven's echoes answer'd well, 
And Duart heard the distant swell 

Come down the darksome Sound. 



M THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto 2. 

XVI. 

So bore they on with mirth and pride, 
And if that labouring bark they spied, 

'Twas with such idle eye 
As nobles cast on lowly boor, 
When, toiling in his task obscure, 

They pass him careless by. 
Let them sweep on with heedless eyes! 
But, had they known what mighty prize 

In that frail vessel lay, 
The famish'd wolf, that prowls the wold, 
Had scatheless pass'd the unguarded fold, 
Ere, drifting by these galleys bold, 

Unchallenged were her way ! 
And thou, Lord Ronald, sweep thou on, 
With mirth, and pride, and minstrel tone ! 
But had'st thou known who saiPd so nigh. 
Far other glance were in thine eye ! 
Far other flush were on thy brow, 
That, shaded by the bonnet, now 
Assumes but ill the blithesome cheer 
Of bridegroom when the bride is near! 

XVII. 

Yes, sweep they on! — We will not leave, 
For them that triumph, those who grieve. 

With that armada gay 
Be laughter loud and jocund shout, 
And bards to cheer the wassail rout, 

With tale, romance, and lay; 
And of wild mirth each clamorous art, 
Which, if it cannot cheer the heart, 
May stupify and stun its smart, 

For one loud busy day. 



Canto L THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 35 

Yes, sweep they on! — But with that skiff 

Abides the minstrel tale, 
Where there was dread of surge and cliffy 
Labour that strain'd each sinew stiff) 

And one sad Maiden's wail. 

XVIII. 

All day with fruitless strife they toil'd, 
With eve the ebbing currents boil'd 

More fierce from strait and lake; 
And midway through the channel met 
Conflicting tides that foam and fret, 
And high their mingled billows jet, 
As spears, that, in the battle set, 

Spring upward as they break. 
Then, too, the lights of eve were past, 
And louder sung the western blast 

On rocks of Inninmore ; 
Rent was the sail, and strain'd the mast, 
And many a leak was gaping fast, 
And the pale steersman stood aghast, 

And gave the conflict o'er. 

XIX. 

1 T was then that One, whose lofty look 
Nor labour dull'd nor terror shook, 

Thus to the Leader spoke: — 
"Brother, how hopest thou to abide 
The fury of this wilder'd tide, 
Or how avoid the rock's rude side, 

Until the day has broke? 
Didst thou not mark the vessel reel, 
With quivering planks, and groaning keel, 

At the last billow's shock? 



36 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto I. 

Yet how of better counsel tell, 
Though here thou see'st poor Isabel 
lalf dead with want and fear; 
For look on sea, or look on land, 
Or yon dark sky, on every hand 

Despair and death are near. 
For her alone I grieve — on me 
Danger sits light by land and sea, 

I follow where thou wilt, 
Either to bide the tempest's lour, 
Or wend to yon unfriendly tower, 
Or rush amid their naval power, 
With war-cry wake their wassail-hour, 

And die with hand on hilt" — 

XX. 

That elder Leader's calm reply 

In steady voice was given, 
" In man's most dark extremity 

Oft succour dawns from Heaven. 
Edward, trim thou the shatter'd sail, 
The helm be mine, and down the gale 

Let our {ree course be driven ; 
So shall we 'scape the western bay, 
The hostile fleet, the unequal fray, 
So safely hold our vessel's way 

Beneath the Castle wall ; 
For if a hope of safety rest, 
'Tis on the sacred name of guest, 
Who seeks for shelter, storm-distress'd, 

Within a chieftain's hall. 
If not — it best beseems our worth, 
Our name, our right, our lofty birth, 

Bv noble hands to fall." 



Canto L THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 37 

XXL 

The helm, to his strong arm consign'd, 
Gave the reef'd sail to meet the wind, 

And on her alter'd way, 
Fierce bounding, forward sprung the ship, 
Like greyhound starting from the slip 

To seize his flying prey. 
Awaked before the rushing prow, 
The mimic fires of ocean glow, 

Those lightnings of the wave ; l 
Wild sparkles crest the broken tides, 
And, flashing round, the vessel's sides 

With elvish lustre lave, 
While, far behind, their livid light 
To the dark billows of the night 

A gloomy splendour gave, 

1 The phenomenon called by sailors Sea-fire, is one of the most 
beautiful and interesting which is witnessed in the Hebrides. 
At times the ocean appears entirely illuminated around the ves- 
sel, and a long train of lambent coruscations are perpetually 
bursting upon the sides of the vessel, or pursuing her wake 
through the darkness. These phosphoric appearances, concern- 
ing the origin of which naturalists are not agreed in opinion, 
seem to be called into action by the rapid motion of the ship 
through the water, and are probably owing to the water being 
saturated with fish-spawn, or other animal substances. They 
remind one strongly of the description of the sea-snakes in Mr. 
Coleridge's wild, but highly poetical ballad of the Ancient 
Mariner : — 

" Beyond the shadow of the ship 

I watch'd the water-snakes, 
They moved in tracks of shining white, 
And when they rear'd, the elvish light 

Fell off in hoary flakes." 

Vol. V. 4 



38 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto I. 

It seems as if old Ocean shakes 
From his dark brow the lucid flakes 

In envious pageantry, 
To match the meteor light that streaks 

Grim Hecla's midnight sky. 

XXII. 

Nor lack'd they steadier light to keep 
Their course upon the darken'd deep; — 
Artornish, on her frowning steep 

'Twixt cloud and ocean hung, 
Glanced with a thousand lights of glee, 
And landward far, and far to sea, 

Her festal radiance flung. 
By that blithe beacon-light they steer'd, 

Whose lustre mingled well 
With the pale beam that now appear'd, 
As the cold moon her head uprear'd 

Above the eastern fell. 

XXIII. 

Thus guided, on their course they bore, 
Until they near'd the mainland shore, 
When frequent on the hollow blast 
Wild shouts of merriment were cast, 
And wind and wave and sea-birds' cry 
With wassail sounds in concert vie, 
Like funeral shrieks with revelry, 

Or like the battle-shout 
By peasants heard from clifls on high, 
When Triumph, Rage, and Agony, 

Madden the fight and rout. 



Canto L THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 39 

Now nearer yet, through mist and storm 
Dimly arose the Castle's form, 

And deepen'd shadow made, 
Far lengthen'd on the main below, 
Where, dancing in reflected glow, 

A hundred torches play'd, 
Spangling the wave with lights as vain 
As pleasures in this vale of pain, 

That dazzle as they fade. 

XXIV. 

Beneath the Castle's sheltering lee. 
They staid their course in quiet sea. 
Hewn in the rock, a passage there 
Sought the dark fortress by a stair, 

So strait, so high, so steep, 
With peasant's staff one valiant hand 
Might well the dizzy pass have mann'd, 
Gainst hundreds arm'd with spear and brand, 

And plunged them in the deep. 1 

1 The fortress of a Hebridean chief was almost always on the 
sea- shore, for the facility of communication which the ocean 
afforded. Nothing can be more wild than the situations which 
they chose, and the devices by which the architects endeavoured 
to defend them. Narrow stairs and arched vaults were the usual 
mode of access ; and the drawbridge appears at Dunstaffhage, 
and elsewhere, to have fallen from the gate of the building to the 
top of such a staircase ; so that any one advancing with hostile 
purpose, found himself in a state of exposed and precarious ele- 
vation, with a guif between him and the object of his attack. 

These fortresses were guarded with equal care. The duty of 
the watch devolved chiefly upon an officer called the Cockman, 
who had the charge of challenging all who approached the castle. 
The very ancient family of Mac-Niel of Barra kept this attendant 



40 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto L 

His bugle then the helmsman wound; 
Loud answer'd every echo round, 

From turret, rock, and bay, 
The postern's hinges crash and groan, 
And soon the warder's cresset shone 
On those rude steps of slippery stone, 

To light the upward way. 
"Thrice welcome, holy Sire!" he said; 
"Full long the spousal train have staid, 

And, vex'd at thy delay, 
Fear'd lest, amidst these wildering seas, 
The darksome night and freshening breeze 

Had driven thy bark astray." — 

at their castle about a hundred years ago. Martin gives the fol- 
lowing account of the difficulty which attended his procuring* 
entrance there: — "The little island Kismul lies about a quarter 
of a mile from the south of this isle (Barra) ; it is the seat of Mack- 
neil of Barra ; there is a stone wall round it two stories high, 
reaching the sea ; and within the wall there is an old tower and 
an hall, with other houses about it. There is a little magazine 
in the tower, to which no stranger has access. I saw the officer 
called the Cockman, and an old cock he is ; when I bid him ferry 
me over the water to the island, he told me that he was but an 
inferior officer, his business being to attend in the tower ; but if 
(says he) the constable, who then stood on the wall, will give 
you access, I '11 ferry you over. I desired him to procure me the 
constable's permission, and I would reward him; but having 
waited some hours for the constable's answer, and not receiving 
any, I was obliged to return without seeing this famous fort. 
Mackneil and his lady being absent, was the cause of this diffi- 
culty, and of my not seeing the place. I was told some weeks 
after, that the constable was very apprehensive of some design I 
might have in viewing the fort, and thereby to expose it to the 
conquest of a foreign power; of which I supposed there was no 
great cause of fear." 



Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 41 

XXV. 
44 Warder," the younger stranger said, 
" Thine erring guess some mirth had made 
In mirthful hour ; but nights like these, 
When the rough winds wake western seas, 
Brook not of glee. We crave some aid 
And needful shelter for this maid 

Until the break of day ; 
For, to ourselves, the deck's rude plank 
Is easy as the mossy bank 

That's breathed upon by May; 
And for our storm-toss'd skiff we seek 
Short shelter in this leeward creek, 
Prompt when the dawn the east shall streak 

Again to bear away." — 
Answered the Warder, " In what name 
Assert ye hospitable claim ? 

Whence come, or whither bound? 
Hath Erin seen your parting sails? 
Or come ye on Norweyan gales? 
And seek ye England's fertile vales, 

Or Scotland's mountain ground?" — 

XXVI. 

"Warriors — for other title none 
For some brief space we list to own, 
Bound by a vow — warriors are we; 
In strife by land, and storm by sea, 

We have been known to fame; 
And these brief words have import dear, 
When sounded in a noble ear, 
To harbour safe, and friendly cheer, 

That gives us rightful claim. 
4* 



42 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto L 

Grant us the trivial boon we seek, 
And we in other realms will speak 

Fair of your courtesy ; 
Deny — and be your niggard Hold 
Scorn'd by the noble and the bold, 
Shunn'd by the pilgrim on the wold, 

And wanderer on the lea ! " — 

XXVII. 

"Bold stranger, no — 'gainst claim like thine, 

No bolt revolves by hand of mine, 

Though urged in tone that more express'd 

A monarch than a suppliant guest. 

Be what ye will, Artornish Hall 

On this glad eve is free to all. 

Though ye had drawn a hostile sword 

'Gainst our ally, great England's Lord, 

Or mail upon your shoulders borne, 

To battle with the Lord of Lorn, 

Or, outlaw'd, dwelt by greenwood tree 

With the fierce Knight of Ellerslie, 1 

Or aided even the murderous strife, 

When Comyn fell beneath the knife 

Of that fell homicide The Bruce, 2 

This night had been a term of truce. — 

Ho, vassals! give these guests your care, 

And show the narrow postern stair." 

XXVIIL 

To land these two bold brethren leapt, 
(The weary crew their vessel kept,) 

1 [Sir William Wallace.] 9 [See Appendix, Note G.] 



Canto I. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 43 

And, lighted by the torches' flare, 
That seaward flung their smoky glare, 
The younger knight that maiden bare 

Half lifeless up the rock ; 
On his strong shoulder lean'd her head, 
And down her long dark tresses shed, 
As the wild vine in tendrils spread, 

Droops from the mountain oak. 
Him follow'd close that elder Lord, 
And in his hand a sheathed sword, 

Such as few arms could wield; 
But when he boun'd him to such task, 
Well could it cleave the strongest casque, 

And rend the surest shield. 

XXIX. 

The raised portcullis' arch they pass, 
The wicket with its bars of brass, 

The entrance long and low, 
Flank'd at each turn by loop-holes strait, 
Where bowmen might in ambush wait, 
(If force or fraud should burst the gate,) 

To gall an entering foe. 
But every jealous post of ward 
Was now defenceless and unbarr'd, 

And all the passage free 
To one low-brow'd and vaulted room, 
Where squire and yeoman, page and groom, 

Plied their loud revelry. 

XXX. 

And " Rest ye here," the Warder bade, 
"Till to our Lord your suit is said. — 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO SECOND. 



49 

THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES, 

CANTO SECOND. 



Fill the bright goblet, spread the festive board! 
Summon the gay, the noble, and the fair; 
Through the loud hall in joyous concert pour'd, 
Let mirth and music sound the dirge of Care ! 
But ask thou not if Happiness be there, 
If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe, 
Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear ; 
Lift not the festal mask! — enough to know, 
No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe. 1 

IL 

With beakers' clang, with harpers' lay, 

With all that olden time deem'd gay, 

The Island Chieftain feasted high; 

But there was in his troubled eye 

A gloomy fire, and on his brow 

Now sudden flush'd, and faded now, 

Emotions such as draw their birth 

From deeper source than festal mirth. 

By fits he paused, and harper's strain 

And jester's tale went round in vain, 
> ■ ». 

1 [" Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ; and the end of 
that mirth is heaviness." — Proverbs, xiv. 13.] 

Vol. V. 5 



50 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

Or fell but on his idle ear 
Like distant sounds which dreamers hear. 
Then would he rouse him, and employ 
Each art to aid the clamorous joy, 

And call for pledge and lay, 
And, for brief space, of all the crowd, 
As he was loudest of the loud, 

Seem gayest of the gay. 

III. 

Yet nought amiss the bridal throng 
Mark'd in brief mirth, or musing long; 
The vacant brow, the unlistening ear, 
They gave to thoughts of raptures near, 
And his fierce starts of sudden glee 
Seem'd bursts of bridegroom's ecstasy. 
Nor thus alone misjudged the crowd, 
Since lofty Lorn, suspicious, proud, 
And jealous of his honour'd line, 
And that keen knight, De Argentine, 
(From England sent on erfand high, 
The western league more firm to tie,) 1 

1 Sir Egidius, or Giles de Argentine, was one of the most 
accomplished knights of the period. He had served in the wars 
of Henry of Luxemburg with such high reputation, that he was, 
in popular estimation, the third worthy of the age. Those to 
whom fame assigned precedence over him were, Henry of Lux- 
emburg himself, and Robert Bruce. Argentine had warred in 
Palestine, encountered thrice with the Saracens, and had slain 
two antagonists in each engagement : — an easy matter, he said, 
for one Christian knight to slay "two Pagan dogs. His death cor- 
responded with his high character. With Aymer de Valence, 
Earl of Pembroke, he was appointed to attend immediately upon 
the person of Edward II. at Bannockburn. When the day was 









Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 51 

Both deem'd in Ronald's mood to find 
A lovers transport-troubled mind* 
But one sad heart, one tearful eye, 
Pierced deeper through the mystery, 
And watch'd, with agony and fear, 
Her wayward bridegroom's varied cheer. 

IV. 

She watch'd — yet fear'd to meet his glance, 
And he shunn'd hers ; — till when by chance 
They met, the point of foeman's lance 

Had given a milder pang ! 
Beneath the intolerable smart 
He writhed; — then sternly mann'd his heart 
To play his hard but destined part, 

And from the table sprang. 

utterly lost they forced the king from the field. De Argentine 
saw the king safe from immediate danger, and then took his leave 
of him ; " God be with you, sir," he said, " it is not my wont to 
fly." So saying, he turned his horse, cried his war-cry, plunged 
into the midst of the combatants, and was slain. Baston, a 
rhyming monk who had been brought by Edward to celebrate his 
expected triumph, and who was compelled by the victors to com- 
pose a poem on his defeat, mentions with some feeling the death 
of Sir Giles de Argentine : 

Nobilis Argenten, pugil inclyte, dulcis Egidi, 
Vix scieram mentem cum te succumbere vidi. 

" The first line mentions the three chief requisites of a true 
knight, noble birth, valour, and courteousness. Few Leonine 
couplets can be produced that have so much sentiment. I wish 
that I could have collected more ample memorials concerning a 
character altogether different from modern manners. Sir Giles 
d' Argentine was a hero of romance in real life." So observes 
the excellent Lord Hailes. 









52 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

" Fill me the mighty cup ! " he said, 
"Erst own'd by royal Somerled: 1 
Fill it, till on the studded brim 
In burning gold the bubbles swim, 
And every gem of varied shine 
Glow doubly bright in rosy wine ! 

To you, brave lord, and brother mine, 
Of Lorn, this pledge I drink — 

The union of Our House with thine, 
By this fair bridal-link!" — 

V. 

" Let it pass round ! " quoth He of Lorn, 
"And in good time — that winded horn 

Must of the Abbot tell; 
The laggard monk is come at last." 
Lord Ronald heard the bugle-blast, 
And on the floor at random cast, 

The untasted goblet fell. 
But when the warder in his ear 
Tells other news, his blither cheer 

Returns like sun of May, 
When through a thunder-cloud it beams! — 
Lord of two hundred isles, he seems 

As glad of brief delay 
As some poor criminal might feel, 
When from the gibbet or the wheel 

Respited for a day. 

VI. 

"Brother of Lorn," with hurried voice 
He said, " And you, fair lords, rejoice ! 
Here, to augment our glee, 

1 [See Appendix, Note E.] 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 53 

Come wandering knights from travel far. 
Well proved, they say, in strife of war, 

And tempest on the sea. — 
Ho ! give them at your board such place 
As best their presences may grace, 

And bid them welcome free ! " 
With solemn step, and silver wand, 
The Seneschal the presence scann'd 
Of these strange guests; and well he knew 
How to assign their rank its due ; l 

For though the costly furs 
That erst had deck'd their caps were torn, 
And their gay robes were over- worn, 

1 The Sewer, to whom, rather than the Seneschal, the office 
of arranging the guests of an island chief appertained, was an 
officer of importance in the family of a Hebridean chief. — 
" Every family had commonly two stewards, which, in their lan- 
guage, were called Marischal Tach : the first of these served 
always at home, and was obliged to be versed in the pedigree of 
all the tribes iu the isles, and in the highlands of Scotland ; for 
it was his province to assign every man at table his seat accord- 
ing to his quality ; and this was done without one word speak- 
ing, only by drawing a score with a white rod, which this Maris- 
chal had in his hand, before the person who was bid by him to 
sit down : and this was necessary to prevent disorder and con- 
tention ; and though the Marischal might sometimes be mistaken, 
the master of the family incurred no censure by such an escape • 
but this custom has been laid aside of late. They had also cup- 
bearers, who always filled and carried the cup round the com 
pany, and he himself always drank off the first draught. They 
had likewise purse-masters, who kept their money. Both these 
officers had an hereditary right to their office in writing, and 
each of them had a town and land for his service : some of those 
rights I have seen fairly written on good parchment." — Mar- 
tin's Western Isles. 
5* 






54 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

And soil'd their gilded spurs, 
Yet such a high commanding grace 
Was in their mien and in their face, 
As suited hest the princely dais, 1 

And royal canopy; 
And there he marshall'd them their place, 

First of that company. 

VII. 

Then lords and ladies spake aside, 
And angry looks the error chide, 
That gave to guests unnamed, unknown, 
A place so near their prince's throne ; 

But Owen Erraught said, 
"For forty years a seneschal, 
To marshal guests in hower and hall 

Has been my honour'd trade. 
Worship and birth to me are known, 
By look, by bearing, and by tone, 
Not by furr'd robe or broider'd zone; 

And 'gainst an oaken bough 
I'll gage my silver wand of state, 
That these three strangers oft have sate 

In higher place than now." — 

VIII. 
" I, too," the aged Ferrand said, 
"Am qualified by minstrel trade 

Of rank and place to tell ; — 
Mark'd ye the younger stranger's eye, 
My mates, how quick, how keen, how high, 

How fierce its flashes fell, 

1 Dais — the great hall-table — elevated a step or two above the 
rest of the room. 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 55 

Glancing among the noble rout 
As if to seek the noblest out, 
Because the owner might not brook 
On any save his peers to look? 

And yet it moves me more, 
That steady, calm, majestic brow, 
With which the elder chief even now 

Scann'd the gay presence o'er, 
Like being of superior kind, 
In whose high-toned impartial mind 
Degrees of mortal rank and state 
Seem objects of indifferent weight. 
The lady too — though closely tied 

The mantle veil both face and eye, 
Her motions' grace it could not hide, 

Nor could her form's fair symmetry." 

IX. 

Suspicious doubt and lordly scorn 
Lour'd on the haughty front of Lorn. 
From underneath his brows of pride, 
The stranger guests he sternly eyed, 

And whisper'd closely what the ear 

Of Argentine alone might hear ; 

Then question'd, high and brief, 
If, in their voyage, aught they knew 
Of the rebellious Scottish crew, 
Who to Rath-Erin's shelter drew, 

With Carrick's outlaw'd Chief? 1 

1 It must be remembered by all who have read the Scottish 
history, that after he had slain Comyn at Dumfries, and asserted 
his right to the Scottish crown, Robert Bruce was reduced to the 



56 THE LORD OF THE ISLES* Canto 1L 

And if, their winter's exile o'er, 
They harbour'd still by Ulster's shore, 

greatest extremity by the English and their adherents. He was 
crowned at Scone by the general consent of the Scottish barons, 
but his authority endured but a short time. According to the 
phrase said to have been used by his wife, he was for that year 
" a summer king, but not a winter one." On the 29th March, 
1306, he was crowned king at Scone. Upon the 19th June, in 
the same year, he was totally defeated at Methven, near Perth ; 
and his most important adherents, with few exceptions, were 
either executed or compelled to embrace the English interest, 
for safety of their lives and fortunes. After this disaster, his life 
was that of an outlaw, rather than a candidate for monarchy. 
He separated himself from the females of his retinue, whom he 
sent for safety to the Castle of Kildrummie, in Aberdeenshire, 
where they afterward became captives to England. From Aber- 
deenshire, Bruce retreated to the mountainous parts of Breadal- 
bane, and approached the borders of Argyleshire. There, as 
mentioned in the Appendix, Note D, and more fully in Note F, 
he was defeated by the Lord of Lorn, who had assumed arms 
against him in revenge of the death of his relative, John the 
Red Comyn. Escaped from this peril, Bruce, with his few 
attendants, subsisted by hunting and fishing, until the weather 
compelled them to seek better sustenance and shelter than the 
Highland mountains afforded. With great difficulty they cross- 
ed, from Rowardennan probably, to the western banks of Loch- 
lomond, partly in a miserable boat, and partly by swimming. The 
valiant and loyal Earl of Lennox, to whose territories they had 
now found their way, welcomed them with tears, but was unable 
to assist them to make an effectual head. The Lord of the Isles, 
then in possession of great part of Cantyre, received the fugitive 
monarch and future restorer of his country's independence, in 
his Castle of Dunnaverty, in that district. But treason, says 
Barbour, was so general, that the King durst not abide there. 
Accordingly, with the remnant of his followers, Bruce embarked 
for Rath-Erin, or Rachrine, the Recina of Ptolemy, a small 
island, lying almost opposite to the shores of Bally castle, on the 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 57 

Or launch'd their galleys on the main, 
To vex their native land again? 

X. 

That younger stranger, fierce and high, 
At once confronts the Chieftain's eye 

With look of equal scorn ; — 
* Of rebels have we nought to show ; 
But if of Royal Bruce thou'dst know, 

I warn thee he has sworn, 
Ere thrice three days shall come and go, 
His banner Scottish winds shall blow, 
Despite each mean or mighty foe, ^?* 

From England's every bill and bow, 

To Allaster of Lorn." 
Kindled the mountain Chieftain's ire, 
But Ronald quench'd the rising fire; 
" Brother, it better suits the time 
To chase the night with Ferrand's rhyme, 
Than wake, 'midst mirth and wine, the jars 
That flow from these unhappy wars." — 
"Content," said Lorn; and spoke apart 
With Ferrand, master of his art, 

Then whisper'd Argentine, — 
"The lay I named will carry smart 
To these bold strangers' haughty heart, 

If right this guess of mine." 

coast of Ireland. The islanders at first fled from their new and 
armed guests, but upon some explanation submitted themselves 
to Bruce's sovereignty. He resided among them until the ap- 
proach of spring, [1306,] when he again returned to Scotland, 
with the desperate resolution to reconquer his kingdom, or perish 
in the attempt. The progress of his success, from its commence 
ment to its completion, forms the brightest period in Scottish 
history. 



58 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

He ceased, and it was silence all* 
Until the Minstrel waked the hall. 



XL 

£f)e jBroacj) oi SLom 1 
" Whence the broach of burning gold, 
That clasps the Chieftain's mantle-fold* 
Wrought and chased with rare device, 
Studded fair with gems of price, 2 
On the varied tartans beaming, 
As, through night's pale rainbow gleaming, 
Fainter now, now seen afar, 
Fitful shines the northern star? 

" Gem ! ne'er wrought on highland mountain, 

Did the fairy of the fountain, 

Or the mermaid of the wave, 

Frame thee in some coral cave? 

Did in Iceland's darksome mine 

Dwarf's swart hands thy metal twine? 

1 [See Appendix, Note F.] 

2 Great art and expense was bestowed upon the fibula, or 
broach, which secured the plaid, when the wearer was a person 
of importance. Martin mentions having seen a silver broach of 
a hundred marks value. " It was broad as any ordinary pewter 
plate, the whole curiously engraven with various animals, &c. 
There was a lesser buckle, which was wore in the middle of the 
larger, and above two oilnces weight ; it had in the centre a 
large piece of crystal, or some finer stone, and this was set all 
round with several finer stones of a lesser size." — Western Isl- 
ands. Pennant has given an engraving of such a broach as Mar- 
tin describes, and the workmanship of which is very elegant. It 
is said to have belonged to the family of Lochbuy. — See Pen- 
nant's Tour, vol. iii. p. 14. 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 59 

Or, mortal-moulded, comest thou here, 
From England's love, or France's fear I 

XII. 

^ottfl contttiuetr. 

"No! — thy splendours nothing tell 
Foreign art or faery spell. 
Moulded thou for Monarch's use, 
By the overweening Bruce, 
When the royal robe he tied 
O'er a heart of wrath and pride; 
Thence in triumph wert thou torn, 
By the victor hand of Lorn ! 

" When the gem was won and lost, 
Widely was the war-cry toss'd ! 
Rung aloud Bendourish fell, 
Answer'd Douchart's sounding dell, 
Fled the deer from wild Teyndrum, 
When the homicide, o'ercome, 
Hardly 'scaped with scathe and scorn, 
Left the pledge with conquering Lorn ! 

IX. 

Sona conclii'De'ty. 
"Vain was then the Douglas brand, 1 
Vain the Campbell's vaunted hand, 

1 The gallant Sir James, called the Good Lord Douglas, the 
most faithful and valiant of Bruce's adherents, was wounded at 
the battle of Dairy. Sir Nigel, or Niel Campbell, was also in 
that unfortunate skirmish. He married Marjorie, sister to 
Robert Bruce, and was among his most faithful followers. In a 
manuscript account of the house of Argyle, supplied, it would 



60 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

Vain Kirkpatrick's bloody dirk, 
Making sure of murder's work; 1 
Barendown fled fast away, 
Fled the fiery De la Haye, 2 

seem, as materials for Archbishop Spottiswoode's History of the 
Church of Scotland, I find the following passage concerning Sir 
Niel Campbell : — " Moreover, when all the nobles in Scotland 
had left King Robert after his hard success, yet this noble knight 
was most faithful, and shrinked not, as it is to be seen in an 
indenture bearing these words : — Memorandum quod cum ab 
incarnatione Domini 1308 conventum fuit et concordatum inter 
nobiles viros Dominum Alexandrum de Seatoun militem et 
Dominum Gilbertum de Haye militem et Dominum Nigellum 
Campbell militem apud monasterium de Cambuskenneth 9° Sep- 
tembris qui tacta sancta eucharista, magnoque juramento facto, 
jurarunt se debere libertatem regni et Roberlum nuper regem 
coronatum contra omnes mortales Francos Anglos Scotos defen- 
der e usque ad ultimum terminum vitce ipsorum. Their sealles 
are appended to the indenture in greene wax, togithir with the 
seal of Gulfrid, Abbot of Cambuskenneth." 

1 [See Appendix, Note G.] 

2 These knights are enumerated by Barbour among the small 
number of Bruce's adherents, who remained in arms with him 
after the battle of Methven. 

"With him was a bold baron, 
Schyr William the Baroundoun, 

Schyr Gilbert de la Haye alsua." 

There were more than one of the noble family of Hay engaged 
in Bruce's cause ; but the principal was Gilbert de la Haye, Lord 
of Errol, a stanch adherent to King Robert's interest, and whom 
he rewarded by creating him hereditary Lord High Constable of 
Scotland, a title which he used 16th March, 1308, where, in a 
letter from the peers of Scotland to Philip the Fair of France, 
he is designed Gilbertus de Hay Constabularius Scotice. He 
was slain at the battle of Halidoun-hill. Hugh de la Haye, his 
brother, was made prisoner at the battle of Methven. 



Canto II THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 61 

When this broach, triumphant borne, 
Beam'd upon the breast of Lorn. 

"Farthest fled its former Lord, 
Left his men to brand and cord, 
Bloody brand of Highland steel, 
English gibbet, axe, and wheel. 
Let him fly from coast to coast, 
Dogg'd by Comyn's vengeful ghost, 
While his spoils, in triumph worn, 
Long shall grace victorious Lorn ! " 

XIV. 

As glares the tiger on his foes, 

Hemm'd in by hunters, spears, and bows, 

And, ere he bounds upon the ring, 

Selects the object of his spring, — 

Now on the bard, now on his Lord, 

So Edward glared and grasp- d his sword — 

But stern his brother spoke. — " Be still. 

What ! art thou yet so wild of will, 

After high deeds and sufferings long, 

To chafe thee for a menial's song? — 

Well hast thou framed, Old Man, thy strains, 

To praise the hand that pays thy pains; 1 

1 The character of the Highland bards, however high in an 
earlier period of society, seems soon to have degenerated. The 
Irish affirm, that in their kindred tribes severe laws became 
necessary to restrain their avarice. In the Highlands they seem 
gradually to have sunk into contempt, as well as the orators, or 
men of speech, with whose office that of family poet was often 
united.—" The orators, in their language called Isdane, were in 
high esteem both in these islands and the continent ; until within 
these forty years, they sat always among the nobles and chiefs 

Vol. V. 6 



62 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

Yet something might thy song have told 
Of Lorn's three vassals, true and hold, 
Who rent their Lord from Bruce's hold, 
As underneath his knee he lay, 
And died to save him in the fray. 
I've heard the Bruce's cloak and clasp 
Was clench'd within their dying grasp, 



of families in the streah, or circle. Their houses and little vil- 
lages were sanctuaries, as well as churches, and they took place 
before doctors of physick. The orators, after the Druids were 
extinct, were brought in to preserve the genealogy of families, 
and to repeat the same at every succession of chiefs ; and upon 
the occasion of marriages and births, they made epithalamiums 
and panegyricks, which the poet or bard pronounced. The ora- 
tors, by the force of their eloquence, had a powerful ascendant 
over the greatest men in their time ; for if any orator did but ask 
the habit, arms, horse, or any other thing belonging to the great- 
est man in these islands, it was readily granted them, sometimes 
out of respect, and sometimes for fear of being exclaimed against 
by a satyre, which, in those days, was reckoned a great disho- 
nour. But these gentlemen becoming insolent, lost ever since 
both the profit and esteem which was formerly due to their char- 
acter ; for neither their panegyricks nor satyres are regarded to 
what they have been, and they are now allowed but a small 
salary. I must not omit to relate their way of study, which is 
very singular : They shut their doors and windows for a day's 
time, and lie on their backs, with a stone upon their belly, and 
plads about their heads, and their eyes being covered, they pump 
their brains for rhetorical encomium or panegyrick; and indeed 
they furnish such a style from this dark cell as is understood by 
very few ; and if they purchase a couple of horses as the reward 
of their meditation, they think they have done a great matter. 
The poet, or bard, had a title to the bridegroom's upper garb, 
that is, the plad and bonnet ; but now he is satisfyed with what 
the bridegroom pleases to give him on such occasions." — Mar- 
tin's Western Isles. 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 63 

What time a hundred foemen more 
Rush'd in and back the victor bore, 
Long after Lorn had left the strife, 
Full glad to 'scape with limb and life. — 
Enough of this — And, Minstrel, hold, 
As minstrel-hire, this chain of gold, 
For future lays a fair excuse, 
To speak more nobly of the Bruce." — 

XV. 

" Now, by Columba's shrine, I swear, 
And every saint that's buried there, 
'Tis he himself!" Lorn sternly cries, 
" And for my kinsman's death he dies." 
As loudly Ronald calls — " Forbear ! 
Not in my sight while brand I wear 
O'ermatch'd by odds, shall warrior fall, 
Or blood of stranger stain my hall ! 
This ancient fortress of my race 
Shall be misfortune's resting-place, 
Shelter and shield of the distress'd, 
No slaughter-house for shipwreck'd guest." — 
" Talk not to me," fierce Lorn replied, 
" Of odds or match ! — when Comyn died, 
Three daggers clash'd within his side! 
Talk not to me of sheltering hall, 
The Church of God saw Comyn fall ! 
On God's own altar stream'd his blood, 
While o'er my prostrate kinsman stood 
The ruthless murderer — e'en as now — 
With armed hand and scornful brow! — 
Up, all who love me! blow on blow! 
And lay the outlaw'd felons low!" 



64 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IT. 

XVI. 

Then up sprung many a mainland Lord, 
Obedient to their Chieftain's word. 
Barcaldine's arm is high in air, 
And Kinloch-AUine's blade is bare, 
Black Murthok's dirk has left its sheath, 
And clench'd is Dermid's hand of death. 
Their mutter'd threats of vengeance swell 
Into a wild and warlike yell ; 
Onward they press with weapons high, 
The affrighted females shriek and fly, 
And, Scotland, then thy brightest ray 
Had darken'd ere its noon of day, 
But every chief of birth and fame, 
That from the Isles of Ocean came, 
At Ronald's side that hour withstood 
Fierce Lorn's relentless thirst for blood. 

XVII. 
Brave Torquil from Dunvegan high, 
Lord of the misty hills of Skye, 
Mac-Niel, wild Bara's ancient thane, 
Duart, of bold Clan Gillian's strain, 
Fergus, of Canna's castled bay, 
Mac-DufBth, Lord of Colonsay, 
Soon as they saw the broadswords glance, 
With ready weapons rose at once, 
More prompt, that many an ancient feud, 
Full oft suppress'd, full oft renew'd, 
Glow'd 'twixt the chieftains of Argyle, 
And many a lord of ocean's isle. 
Wild was the scene — each sword was bare, 
Back stream'd each chieftain's shaggy hair, 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 65 

In gloomy opposition set, 
Eyes, hands, and brandish'd weapons met ; 
Blue gleaming o'er the social board, 
Flash'd to the torches many a sword; 
L And soon those bridal lights may shine 
On purple blood for rosy wine. 

XVIII. 

j , While thus for blows and death prepared, 
Each heart was up, each weapon bared, 
Each foot advanced, — a surly pause 
Still reverenced hospitable laws. 
All menaced violence, but alike 
Reluctant each the first to strike, 
(For aye accursed in minstrel line 
Is he who brawls 'mid song and wine,) 
And, match'd in numbers and in might, 
Doubtful and desperate seem'd the fight. 
Thus threat and murmur died away, 
Till on the crowded hall there lay 
Such silence, as the deadly still, 
Ere bursts the thunder on the hill. 
With blade advanced, each Chieftain bold 
Show'd like the Sworder's form of old, 
As wanting still the torch of life, 
To wake the marble into strife. 

XIX. 

That awful pause the stranger maid, 
And Edith, seized to pray for aid. 
As to De Argentine she clung, 
Away her veil the stranger flung, 
And, lovely 'mid her wild despair, 
Fast stream'd her eyes, wide flow'd her hair. 
6* 



68 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IL 

" O thou, of knighthood once the flower, 

Sure refuge in distressful hour 

Thou, who in Judah well hast fought 

For our dear faith, and oft hast sought 

Renown in knightly exercise, 

When this poor hand has dealt the prize, 

Say, can thy soul of honour brook 

On the unequal strife to look, 

When, butcher'd thus in peaceful hall, 

Those once thy friends, my brethren, fall!" 

To Argentine she turn'd her word, 

But her eye sought the Island Lord. 

A flush like evening's setting flame 

Glow'd on his cheek; his hardy frame, 

As with a brief convulsion, shook : 

With hurried voice and eager look, — 

" Fear not," he said, " my Isabel ! 

What said I — Edith ! — all is well — 

Nay, fear not — I will well provide 

The safety of my lovely bride — 

My bride?" — but there the accents clung 

In tremor to his faltering tongue. 



XX. 

Now rose De Argentine, to claim 
The prisoners in his sovereign's name, 
To England's crown, who, vassals sworn, 
'Gainst their liege lord had weapon borne — 
(Such speech, I ween, was but to hide 
His care their safety to provide ; 



For knight more true in thought and deed 
Than Argentine ne'er spurr'd a steed) — 






€anto II THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 67 

And Ronald, who his meaning guess'd, 

Seem'd half to sanction the request. 

This purpose fiery Torquil broke; — 

*' Somewhat we've heard of England's yoke/' 

He said, " and, in our islands, Fame 

Hath whisper'd of a lawful claim, 

That calls the Bruce fair Scotland's Lord, 

Though dispossess'd by foreign sword. 

This craves reflection — but though right 

And just the charge of England's Knight, 

Let England's crown her rebels seize 

Where she has power; — in towers like these, 

^Midst Scottish Chieftains summon'd here 

To bridal mirth and bridal cheer, 

Be sure, with no consent of mine, 

Shall either Lorn or Argentine 

With chains or violence, in our sight, 

Oppress a brave and banish'd Knight" 

XXI. 

Then waked the wild debate again, 
With brawling threat and clamour vain. 
Vassals and menials, thronging in, 
Lent their brute rage to swell the din ; 
When, far and wide, a bugle-clang 
From the dark ocean upward rang. 

"The Abbot comes !" they cry at once, 

" The holy man, whose favour'd glance 
Hath sainted visions known ; 

Angels have met him on the way 

Beside the blessed martyrs' bay, 
And by Columba's stone. 



66 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto II. ^ 

His monks have heard their hymnings high 

Sound from the summit of Dun-Y, 
To cheer his penance lone, 
When at each cross, on girth and wold, 
(Their number thrice a hundred-fold,) 
His prayer he made, his heads he told, 

With Aves many a one — 
He comes our feuds to reconcile, 
A sainted man from sainted isle ; 
We will his holy doom abide, 
The Abbot shall our strife decide." 

XXII. 

Scarcely this fair accord was o'er, 
When through the wide revolving door 

The black-stoled brethren wind ; 
Twelve sandall'd monks, who relics bore, 
With many a torch-bearer before, 

And many a cross behind. 
Then sunk each fierce uplifted hand, 
And dagger bright and flashing brand 

Dropp'd swiftly at the sight; 
They vanish'd from the Churchman's eye. 
As shooting stars, that glance and die, 

Dart from the vault of night. 

XXIII. 

The Abbot on the threshold stood, 
And in his hand the holy rood ; 
Back on his shoulders flow'd his hood, 

The torch's glaring ray 
Show'd, in its red and flashing light, 
His wither'd cheek and amice white, 






Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 

His blue eye glistening cold and bright, 

His tresses scant and grey. 
" Fair Lords,'*' he said, " Our Lady's love, 
And peace be with you from above, 

And Benedicite ! — 
— But what means this? no peace is here!- 
Do dirks unsheathed suit bridal cheer? 

Or are these naked brands 
A seemly show for Churchman's sight, 
When he comes summon'd to unite 
Betrothed hearts and hands?" 

XXIV. 

Then, cloaking hate with fiery zeal, 
Proud Lorn first answer'd the appeal; — 

" Thou comest, O holy Man, 
True sons of blessed church to greet, 
But little deeming here to meet 

A wretch, beneath the ban 
Of Pope and Church, for murder done 
Even on the sacred altar-stone ! — 
Well mayst thou wonder we should know 
Such miscreant here, nor lay him low, 
Or dream of greeting, peace, or truce, 
With excommunicated Bruce 1 
Yet well I grant, to end debate, 
Thy sainted voice decide his fate." 

XXV. 

Then Ronald pled the stranger's cause, 
And knighthood's oath and honour's laws; 
And Isabel, on bended knee, 
Brought pray'rs and tears to back the plea: 



70 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto 1L 

And Edith lent her generous aid, 
And wept, and Lorn for mercy pray'd. 
" Hence," he exclaim'd, " degenerate maid ! 
Was't not enough to Ronald's bower 
I brought thee, like a paramour, 1 
Or bond-maid at her master's gate, 
His careless cold approach to wait? — 
But the bold Lord of Cumberland, 
The gallant Clifford, seeks thy hand; 
His it shall be — Nay, no reply! 
Hence ! till those rebel eyes be dry." 
With grief the Abbot heard and saw, 
Yet nought relax'd his brow of awe. 

XXVI. 

Then Argentine, in England's name, 
So highly urged his sovereign's claim, 
He waked a spark, that, long suppressed, 
Had smoulder'd in Lord Ronald's breast; 

1 It was anciently customary in the Highlands to bring the 
bride to the house of the husband. Nay, in some cases the com- 
plaisance was stretched so far, that she remained there upon trial 
for a twelvemonth ; and the bridegroom, even after this period 
of cohabitation, retained an option of refusing to fulfil his engage- 
ment. It is said that a desperate feud ensued between the clans 
of Mac-Donald of Sleate and Mac-Leod, owing to the former 
chief having availed himself of tl lis license to send back to Dun- 
vegan a sister, or daughter of the latter. Mac-Leod, resenting 
the indignity, observed, that since there was no wedding bonfire, 
there should be one to solemnize the divorce. Accordingly, he 
burned and laid waste the territories of MacDonald, who retaliat- 
ed, and a deadly feud, with all its accompaniments, took place 
in form. 



Cunlo II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 71 

And now, as from the flint the fire, 
Flash'd forth at once his generous ire. 
" Enough of noble blood," he said, 
" By English Edward had been shed, 
Since matchless Wallace first had been 
In mock'ry crown'd with wreaths of green. 1 

1 Stow gives the following curious account of the trial and exe- 
cution of this celebrated patriot : — " William Wallace, who had 
oft-times set Scotland in great trouble, was taken and brought to 
London, with great numbers of men and women wondering upon 
him. He was lodged in the house of William Delect, a citizen 
of London, in Fenchurch-street. On the morrow, being the eve 
of St Bartholomew, he was brought Gn horseback to Westmin- 
ster. John Legrave and Geffrey, knights, the mayor, sheriffs, 
and aldermen of London, and many others, both on horseback 
and on foot, accompanying him ; and in the great hall at West- 
minster, he being placed on the south bench, crowned with laurel, 
for that he had said in times past that he ought to bear a crown 
in that hall, as it was commonly reported ; and being appeached 
for a traitor by Sir Peter Malorie, the king's justice, he answered, 
that he was never traitor to the King of England ; but for other 
things whereof he was accused he, confessed them ; and was 
after headed and quartered." — Stow, Chr. p. 209. There is 
something singularly doubtful about the mode in which Wallace 
was taken. That he was betrayed to thy English is indubitable ; 
and popular fame charges Sir John Menteith with the indelible 
infamy. " Accursed," says Arnold Blair, " be the day of nativity 
of John de Menteith, and may his name be struck out of the 
book of life." Bat John de Menteith was all along a zealous 
favourer of the English interest, and was governor of Dumbarton 
Castle by commission from Edward the First ; and therefore, as 
the accurate Lord Hailes has observed, could not be the friend 
and confidant of Wallace, as tradition states him to be. The 
truth seems to be, that Menteith, thoroughly engaged in the 
English interest, pursued Wallace closely, and made him pri- 
soner through the treachery of an attendant, whom Peter Lang- 
toft calls Jack Short. 



72 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

And done to death by felon hand, 
For guarding well his father's land. 
Where's Nigel Bruce? and De la Haye, 
And valiant Seton — where are they ? 
Where Somerville, the kind and free? 
And Fraser, flower of chivalry? 1 
Have they not been on gibbet bound, 
Their quarters flung to hawk and hound, 
And hold we here a cold debate, 
To yield more victims to their fate ? 
What! can the English Leopard's mood 
Never be gorged with northern blood ? 
Was not the life of Athole shed, 
To soothe the tyrant's sicken'd bed? 2 

" William Waleis is nomen that master was of theves, 

Tiding to the king is comen that robbery mischeives, 

Sir John of Menelest saed William so nigh, 

He tok him when he ween'd least, on night, his leman him by, 

That was through treason of Jack Short his man, 

He was the encheson that Sir John so him ran, 

Jack's brother had he slain, the Walleis that is said, 

The more Jack was fain to do William that braid." 

From this it would appear that the infamy of seizing Wallace, 
must rest between a degenerate Scottish nobleman, the vassaJ 
of England, and a domestic, the obscure agent of his treachery ; 
between Sir John Menteith, son of Walter, Earl of Menteith, 
and the traitor Jack Short. 

1 [See Appendix, Note H.] 

2 John de Strathbogie, Earl of Athole, had attempted to escape 
out of the kingdom, but a storm cast him upon the coast, when 
he was taken, sent to London, and executed, with circumstances 
of great barbarity, being first half strangled, then let down from 
the gallows while yet alive, barbarously dismembered, and his 
body burnt. It may surprise the reader to learn, that this was a 
mitigated punishment; for in respect that his mother was a 
grand-daughter of King John, by his natural son Richard, he 
was not drawn on a sledge to execution, " that point was for- 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 73 

And must his word, till dying day, 

Be nought but quarter, hang, and slay ! — l 

given," and he made the passage on horseback. Matthew of 
Westminster tells us that King Edward, then extremely ill, 
received great ease from the news that his relative was appre- 
hended. " Quo audito, Rex Anglice, etsi gravissimo morbo tunc 
langueret, levius tamen tulit dolorem" To this singular expres- 
sion the text alludes. 

1 This alludes to a passage in Barbour, singularly expressive 
of the vindictive spirit of Edward I. The prisoners taken at the 
castle of Kildrummie had surrendered upon condition that they 
should be at King Edward's disposal. " But his will," says Bar- 
bour, " was always evil towards Scottishmen." The news of the 
surrender of Kildrummie arrived when he was in his mortal sick- 
ness at Burgh-upon-Sands. 

M And when be to the death was near. 
The folk that at Kyldromy wer 
Come with prisoners that they had tane, 
And syne to the king are gane. 
And for to comfort him they tauld 
How they the castell to them yauld; 
And how they till his will were brought, 
To do off that whatever he thought ; 
And ask'd what men should off them do. 
Then look'd he angryly them to, 
He said, grinning, 'hangs and draws.' 
That was wonder of sic saws, 
That he, that to the death was near, 
Should answer upon sic maner, 
Forouten moaning and mercy; 
How might he trust on him to cry, 
That sooth-fastly dooms all thing 
To have mercy for his crying, 
Off him that, throw his felony, 
Into sic point had no mercy ?" 

There was much truth in the Leonine couplet, with which Mat- 
thew of Westminster concludes his encomium on the first Ed- 
ward: 

"Scotos Edwardus, dum vixit, suppeditavit, 

Tenuit, afflixit, depressit, dilaniavit." 

Vol. V. 7 



74 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto II. 

Thou frown'st, De Argentine, — My gage 
Is prompt to prove the strife I wage." — 

XXVII. 

"Nor deem," said stout Dunvegan's knight, 

" That thou shalt brave alone the fight ! 

By saints of isle and mainland both, 

By Woden wild, (my grandsire's oath,) 1 

Let Rome and England do their worst, 

Howe'er attainted or accursed, 

If Bruce shall e'er find friends again, 

Once more to brave a battle-plain, 

If Douglas couch again his lance, 

Or Randolph dare another chance, 

Old Torquil will not be to lack 

With twice a thousand at his back. — 

Nay, chafe not at my bearing bold, 

Good Abbot ! for thou know'st of old, 

Torquil's rude thought and stubborn will 

Smack of the wild Norwegian still ; 

Nor will I barter Freedom's cause 

For England's wealth, or Rome's applause." 

XXVIII. 

The Abbot seem'd with eye severe 
The hardy Chieftain's speech to hear; 
Then on King Robert turn'd the Monk, 
But twice his courage came and sunk, 

1 The MacLeods, and most other distinguished Hebridean fami- 
lies, were of Scandinavian extraction, and some were late or im- 
perfect converts to Christianity. The family names of Torquil, 
Thormod, &c. are all Norwegian. 



r 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 75 

Confronted with the hero's look; 

Twice fell his eye, his accents shook; 

At length, resolved in tone and brow, 

Sternly he questioned him — "And thou, 

Unhappy ! what hast thou to plead, 

Why I denounce not on thy deed 

That awful doom which canons tell 

Shuts paradise, und opens hell; 

Anathema of power so dread, 

It blends the living with the dead, 

Bids each good angel soar away, 

And every ill one claim his prey; 

Expels thee from the church's care, 

And deafens Heaven against thy prayer; 

Arms every hand against thy life, 

Bans all who aid thee in the strife, 

Nay, each whose succour, cold and scant 

With meanest alms relieves thy want; 

Haunts thee while living, — and, when dead, 

Dwells on thy yet devoted head, 

Rends Honour's scutcheon from thy hearse, 

Stills o'er thy bier the holy verse, 

And spurns thy corpse from hallow'd ground, 

Flung like vile carrion to the hound; 

Such is the dire and desperate doom 

For sacrilege, decreed by Rome ; 

And such the well-deserved meed 

Of thine unhallow'd, ruthless deed." — 

XXIX. 

u Abbot ! " The Bruce replied, " thy charge 
It boots not to dispute at large. 



76 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IL 

This much, however, I bid thee know, 

No selfish vengeance dealt the blow, 

For Comyn died his country's foe. 

Nor blame I friends whose ill-timed speed 

FulfilPd my soon-repented deed, 

Nor censure those from whose stern tongue 

The dire anathema has rung. 

I only blame mine own wild ire, 

By Scotland's wrongs incensed to fire. 

Heaven knows my purpose to atone, 

Far as I may, the evil done, 

And hears a penitent's appeal 

From papal curse and prelate's zeal. 

My first and dearest task achieved, 

Fair Scotland from her thrall relieved, 

Shall many a priest in cope and stole 

Say requiem for Red Comyn's soul, 

While I the blessed cross advance, 

And expiate this unhappy chance, 

In Palestine, with sword and lance. 1 

But, while content the church should know 

My conscience owns the debt I owe, 

Unto De Argentine and Lorn 

The name of traitor I return, 

Bid them defiance stern and high, 

And give them in their throats the lie! 

1 Bruce uniformly professed, and probably felt, compunction for 
having violated the sanctuary of the church by the slaughter of 
Comyn ; and finally, in his last hours,, in testimony of his faith, 
penitence, and zeal, he requested James Lord Douglas to carry 
his heart to Jerusalem, to be there deposited in the Holy 
Sepulchre. 






Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 77 

These brief words spoke, I speak no more: 
Do what thou wilt; my shrift is o'er." 

XXX. 

Like man by prodigy amazed, 
Upon the King the Abbot gazed; 
Then o'er his pallid features glance, 
Convulsions of ecstatic trance. 
His breathing came more thick and fast, 
And from his pale blue eyes were cast 
Strange rays of wild and w T andering light; 
Uprise bis locks of silver white, 
Flush'd is his brow, through every vein 
In azure tide the currents strain, 
And undistinguished accents broke 
The awful silence ere he spoke. 

XXXI. 

*' De Bruce ! I rose with purpose dread 
To speak my curse upon thy head, 1 

1 So soon as the notice of Comyn's slaughter reached Rome, 
Bruce and his adherents were excommunicated. It was publish- 
ed first by the Archbishop of York, and renewed at different 
times, particularly by Lambyrton, Bishop of St. Andrews, in 
1308 ; but it does not appear to have answered the purpose which 
the English monarch expected. Indeed, for reasons which it 
may be difficult to trace, the thunders of Rome descended upon 
the Scottish mountains with less effect than in more fertile coun- 
tries. Probably the comparative poverty of the benefices occa- 
sioned that fewer foreign clergy settled in Scotland; and the 
interests of the native churchmen were linked with that of their 
country. Many of the Scottish prelates, Lambyrton the primate 
particularly, declared for Bruce, while he was yet under the ban 
of the church, although he afterwards again changed sides. 
7# 



78 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto 11 

And give thee as an outcast o'er 

To him who burns to shed thy gore; — 

But, like the Midianite of old, 

Who stood on Zophim, heaven-controll'd, 

I feel within mine aged breast 

A power that will not be repress'd. 1 

It prompts my voice, it swells my veins, 

It burns, it maddens, it constrains! — 

De Bruce, thy sacrilegious blow 

Hath at God's altar slain thy foe: 

O'ermaster'd yet by high behest, 

I bless thee, and thou shalt be bless'd!" 

He spoke, and o'er the astonish'd throng 

Was silence, awful, deep, and long. 

XXXII. 

Again that light has fired his eye, 
Again his form swells bold and high, 
The broken voice of age is gone, 
'Tis vigorous manhood's lofty tone: — 
" Thrice vanquish'd on the battle-plain, 
Thy followers slaughter'd, fled, or ta'en, 
A hunted wanderer on the wild, 
On foreign shores a man exil'd, 2 
Disown'd, deserted, and distress'd, 
I bless thee, and thou shalt be bless'd! 
Bless'd in the hall and in the field, 
Under the mantle as the shield. 
Avenger of thy country's shame, 
Restorer of her injured fame, 

1 [See Appendix, Note L] 2 [See Appendix, Note K] 



Canto II. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 79 

Bless'd in thy sceptre and thy sword, 

De Bruce, fair Scotland's rightful Lord, 

Bless'd in thy deeds and in thy fame, 

What lengthen'd honours wait thy name! 

In distant ages, sire to son 

Shall tell thy tale of freedom won, 

And teach his infants, in the use 

Of earliest speech, to falter Bruce. 

Go, then, triumphant ! sweep along 

Thy course, the theme of many a song ! 

The Power, whose dictates swell my breast, 

Hath bless'd thee, and thou shalt be bless'd! — 

Enough — my short-lived strength decays, 

And sinks the momentary blaze. — 

Heaven hath our destined purpose broke, 

Not here must nuptial vow be spoke; 

Brethren, our errand here is o'er, 

Our task discharged. — Unmoor, unmoor!" — 

His priests received the exhausted Monk, 

As breathless in their arms he sunk. 

Punctual his orders to obey, 

The train refused all longer stay, 

Embark'd, raised sail, and bore away. 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO THIRD. 



83 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO THIRD. 



Hast thou not mark'd, when o'er thy startled head 
Sudden and deep the thunder-peal has rolPd, 
How, w T hen its echoes fell, a silence dead 
Sunk on the wood, the meadow and the wold ? 
The rye-grass shakes not on the sod-built fold, 
The rustling aspen's leaves are mute and still, 
The wall-flower waves not on the ruin'd hold, 
Till, murmuring distant first, then near and shrill, 
The savage whirlwind wakes, and sweeps the groaning 
hill! 

II. 

Artornish ! such a silence sunk 

Upon thy halls, when that grey Monk 

His prophet-speech had spoke ; 
And his obedient brethren's sail 
Was stretch'd to meet the southern gale 

Before a whisper woke. 
Then murmuring sounds of doubt and fear, 
Close pour'd in many an anxious ear, 

The solemn stillness broke; 
And still they gazed with eager guess, 
Where, in an oriel's deep recess, 
The Island Prince seem'd bent to press 



84 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III 

What Lorn, by his impatient cheer, 

And gesture fierce, scarce deign'd to hear. 

III. 

Starting at length with frowning look, 
His hand he clench'd, his head he shook, 

And sternly flung apart; — 
" And deem'st thou me so mean of mood, 
As to forget the mortal feud, 
And clasp the hand with blood imbrued 

From my dear Kinsman's heart ? 
Is this thy rede? — a due return 
For ancient league and friendship sworn ! 
But well our mountain proverb shows 
The faith of Islesmen ebbs and flows. 
Be it even so — believe, ere long, 
He that now bears shall wreak the wrong. — 
Call Edith — call the Maid of Lorn! 
My sister, slaves! — for further scorn, 
Be sure nor she nor I will stay. — 
Away, De Argentine, away ! — 
We nor ally nor brother know, 
In Bruce's friend, or England's foe." 

IV. 

But who the Chieftain's rage can tell, 
When, sought from lowest dungeon cell 
To highest tower the castle round, 
No Lady Edith was there found ! 
He shouted, " Falsehood ! — treachery ! — 
Revenge and blood ! — a lordly meed 
To him that will avenge the deed! 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 85 

A Baron's lands!" — His frantic mood 
Was scarcely by the news withstood, 
That Morag shared his sister's flight, 
And that, in hurry of the night, 
'Scaped noteless, and without remark, 
Two strangers sought the Abbot's bark. — 
" Man every galley ! — fly — pursue ! 
The priest his treachery shall rue ! 
Ay, and the time shall quickly come, 
When we shall hear the thanks that Rome 
Will pay his feigned prophecy!" 
Such was fierce Lorn's indignant cry; 
And Cormac Doil in haste obey'd, 
Hoisted his sail, his anchor weigh'd, 
(For, glad of each pretext for spoil, 
A pirate sworn was Cormac Doil.) 1 
But others, lingering, spoke apart, — 
a The Maid has given her maiden heart 

To Ronald of the Isles, 
And, fearful lest her brother's word 
Bestow her on that English Lord, 

She seeks Iona's piles, 

1 A sort of persons common in the isles, as may be easily 
believed, until the introduction of civil polity. Witness the 
Dean of the Isles' account of Ronay. " At the north end of 
Raarsay, be half myle of sea frae it, layes ane ile callit Ronay, 
maire then a myle in lengthe, full of wood and heddir, with ane 
ha vein for heiland galeys in the middis of it, and the same havein 
is guid for fostering of theives, ruggairs and reivairs, till a nail, 
upon the peilling and spulzeing of poor pepill. This ile perteins 
to M'Gillychallan of Raarsay by force, and to the bishope of the 
iles be heritage." — Sir Donald Monro's Description of the 
Western Islands of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1805, p. 22. 

Vol. V. 8 



86 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

And wisely deems it best to dwell 
A votaress in the holy cell, 
Until these feuds so fierce and fell 
The Abbot reconciles." 

V. 

As, impotent of ire, the hall 
Echoed to Lorn's impatient call, 
" My horse, my mantle, and my train ! 
Let none who honours Lorn remain ! " — 
Courteous, but stern, a bold request 
To Bruce De Argentine express'd. 
"Lord Earl," he said, — "I cannot chuse 
But yield such title to the Bruce, 
Though name and earldom both are gone, 
Since he braced rebel's armour on — 
But, Earl or Serf — rude phrase was thine 
Of late, and launch'd at Argentine ; 
Such as compels me to demand 
Redress of honour at thy hand. 
We need not to each other tell, 
That both can wield their weapons well ; 

Then do me but the soldier grace, 

This glove upon thy helm to place 
Where we may meet in light; 

And I will say, as still I've said, 

Though by ambition far misled, 
Thou art a noble knight."— 

VI. 
"And I," the princely Bruce replied, 
" Might term it stain on knighthood's pride, 
That the bright sword of Argentine 
Should in a tyrant's quarrel shine; 






Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 87 

But, for your brave request, 
Be sure the honour'd pledge you gave 
In every battle-field shall wave 

Upon my helmet-crest; 
Believe, that if my hasty tongue 
Hath done thine honour causeless wrong, 

It shall be well redress'd. 
Not dearer to my soul was glove, 
Bestow'd in youth by lady's love, 

Than this which thou hast given! 
Thus, then, my noble foe I greet; 
Health and high fortune till we meet, 

And then — what pleases Heaven." 

VII. 

Thus parted they — for now, with sound 
Like waves roll'd back from rocky ground, 

The friends of Lorn retire; 
Each mainland chieftain, with his train, 
Draws to his mountain towers again, 
Pondering how r mortal schemes prove vain, 

And mortal hopes expire. 
But through the castle double guard, 
By Ronald's charge, kept wakeful ward, 
Wicket and gate were trebly barr'd, 

By beam and bolt and chain; 
Then of the guests, in courteous sort, 
He pray'd excuse for mirth broke short, 
And bade them in Artornish fort 

In confidence remain. 
Now torch and menial tendance led 
Chieftain and knight to bower and bed, 
And beads were told, and aves said, 



88 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III 

And soon they sunk away 
Into such sleep, as wont to shed 
Oblivion on the weary head, 

After a toilsome day. 

VIII. 

But soon uproused, the Monarch cried 
To Edward slumbering by his side, 

" Awake, or sleep for aye ! 
Even now there jarr'd a secret door — 
A taper-light gleams on the floor — 

Up, Edward, up, I say ! 
Some one glides in like midnight ghost — 
Nay, strike not ! 'tis our noble Host." 
Advancing then his taper's flame, 
Ronald stept forth, and with him came 
Dunvegan's chief — each bent the knee 
To Bruce in sign of fealty, 

And proffer'd him his sword, 
And hail'd him, in a monarch's style, 
As king of mainland and of isle, 
And Scotland's rightful lord. 
"And O," said Ronald, "Own'd of Heaven! 
Say, is my erring youth forgiven, 
By falsehood's arts from duty driven, 

Who rebel falchion drew, 
Yet ever to thy deeds of fame, 
Even while I strove against thy claim, 

Paid homage just and true ? " — 
"Alas! dear youth, the unhappy time," 
Answer'd the Bruce, "must bear the crime, 
Since, guiltier far than you, 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 89 

Even I" — he paused; for Falkirk's woes 
Upon his conscious soul arose. 1 
The Chieftain to his breast he press'd, 
And in a sigh conceal'd the rest. 

1 1 have followed the vulgar and inaccurate tradition, that 
Bruce fought against Wallace, and the array of Scotland, at the 
fatal battle of Falkirk. The story, which seems to have no bet- 
ter authority than that of Blind Harry, bears, that having made 
much slaughter during the engagement, he sat down to dine 
with the conquerors without washing the filthy witness from his 
hands. 

"Fasting he was, and had been in great need, 
Blooded were all his weapons and his weed: 
Southeron lords scorn 'd him in terms rude, 
And said, Behold yon Scot eats his own blood. 

"Then rued he sore, for reason bad be known, 
That blood and land alike should be his own ; 
With them he long was, ere he got away, 
But contrair Scots he fought not from that day." 

The account given by most of our historians, of the conversation 
between Bruce and Wallace over the Carron river, is equally 
apocryphal. There is full evidence that Bruce was not at that 
time on the English side, nor present at the battle of Falkirk ; 
nay, that he acted as a guardian of Scotland, along with John 
Comyn, in the name of Baliol, and in opposition to the English. 
He was the grandson of the competitor, with whom he has been 
sometimes confounded. Lord Hailes has well described, and in 
some degree apologized for, the earlier part of his life. — " His 
grand-father, the competitor, had patiently acquiesced in the 
award of Edward. His father, yielding to the times, had served 
under the English banners. But young Bruce had more am- 
bition, and a more restless spirit. In his earlier years he acted 
upon no regular plan. By turns the partisan of Edward, and the 
vicegerent of Baliol, he seems to have forgotten or stifled his 
pretensions to the crown. But his character developed itself by 
degrees, and in maturer age became firm and consistent." — 
Annals of Scotland, p. 290, quarto, London, 1776. 
8* 



90 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

IX. 
They proffer'd aid, by arms and might, 
To repossess him in his right; 
But well their counsels must be weigh'd, 
Ere banners raised and musters made, 
For English hire and Lorn's intrigues 
Bound many chiefs in southern leagues. 
In answer, Bruce his purpose bold 
To his new vassals frankly told. 
"The winter worn in exile o'er, 
I long'd for Carrick's kindred shore. 
I thought upon my native Ayr, 
And long'd to see the burly fare 
That Clifford makes, whose lordly call 
Now echoes through my father's hall. 
But first my course to Arran led, 
Where valiant Lennox gathers head, 
And on the sea, by tempest toss'd, 
Our barks dispersed, our purpose cross'd, 
Mine own, a hostile sail to shun, 
Far from her destined course had run, 
When that wise will, which masters ours, 
Compell'd us to your friendly towers." 

X. 

Then Torquil spoke : " The time craves speed ! 

We must not linger in our deed, 

But instant pray our Sovereign Liege, 

To shun the perils of a siege. 

The vengeful Lorn, with all his powers, 

Lies but too near Artornish towers, 

And England's light-armed vessels ride 

Not distant far, the waves of Clyde, 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 91 

Prompt at these tidings to unmoor, 

And sweep each strait, and guard each shore. 

Then, till this fresh alarm pass by, 

Secret and safe my Liege must lie 

In the far bounds of friendly Skye, 

Torquil thy pilot and thy guide." — 

"Not so, brave Chieftain," Ronald cried; 

" Myself will on my Sovereign wait, 

And raise in arms the men of Sleate, 

Whilst thou, renown'd where chiefs debate, 

Shalt sway their souls by council sage, 

And awe them by thy locks of age." — 

— "And if my words in weight shall fail, 

This ponderous sword shall turn the scale." — 

XI. 

" The scheme," said Bruce, * contents me well ; 

Meantime, 'twere best that Isabel, 

For safety, with my bark and crew, 

Again to friendly Erin drew. 

There Edward, too, shall with her wend, 

In need to cheer her and defend, 

And muster up each scatter'd friend." — 

Here seem'd it as Lord Ronald's ear 

Would other counsel gladlier hear; 

But, all achieved as soon as plann'd, 

Both barks, in secret arm'd and mann'd, 

From out the haven bore; 
On different voyage forth they ply, 
This for the coast of winged Skye, 

And that for Erin's shore. 

XII. 
With Bruce and Ronald bides the tale. 
To favouring winds they gave the sail, 



92 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto 111. 

Till Mull's dark headlands scarce they knew, 
And Ardnamurchan's hills were blue. 
But then the squalls blew close and hard, 
And, fain to strike the galley's yard, 

And take them to the oar, 
With these rude seas, in weary plight, 
They strove the livelong day and night, 
Nor till the dawning had a sight 

Of Skye's romantic shore. 
Where Coolin stoops him to the west, 
They saw upon his shiver'd crest 

The sun's arising gleam; 
But such the labour and delay, 
Ere they w T ere moor'd in Scavigh bay, 
(For calmer heaven compell'd to stay,) 

He shot a western beam. 
Then Ronald said, " If true mine eye, 
These are the savage wilds that lie 
North of Strathnardill and Dunskye : l 

No human foot comes here, 
And, since these adverse breezes blow, 
If my good Liege love hunter's bow 
What hinders that on land we go, 

And strike a mountain-deer? 
Allan, my page, shall with us wend ; 
A bow full deftly can he bend, 
And, if we meet a herd, may send 

A shaft shall mend our cheer." 
Then each took bow and bolts in hand, 
Their row-boat launch'd and leapt to land, 

And left their skiff and train, 

1 [See xA.ppendix, Note L.] 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 93 

Where a wild stream, with headlong shock, 
Came brawling down its bed of rock, 
To mingle with the main. 

XIII. 

A while their route they silent made, 

As men who stalk for mountain-deer, 

Till the good Bruce to Ronald said, 

" St. Mary ! what a scene is here ! 

I've traversed many a mountain-strand, 

Abroad and in my native land, 

And it has been my lot to tread 

Where safety more than pleasure led; 
Thus, many a waste I've wander'd o'er, 
Clombe many a crag, cross'd many a moor, 
But, by my halidome, 

A scene so rude, so wild as this, 

Yet so sublime in barrenness, 

Ne'er did my wandering footsteps press, 
Where'er I happ'd to roam." 

XIV. 

No marvel thus the Monarch spake; 

For rarely human eye has known 
A scene so stern as that dread lake, 

With its dark ledge of barren stone. 
Seems that primeval earthquake's sway 
Hath rent a strange and shatter'd way 

Through the rude bosom of the hill, 
And that each naked precipice, 
Sable ravine, and dark abyss, 

Tells of the outrage still. 



94 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

The wildest glen, but this, can show 
Some touch of Nature's genial glow; 
On high Benmore green mosses grow, 
And heath-bells bud in deep Glencroe, 

And copse on Cruchan-Ben; 
But here, — above, around, below, 

On mountain or in glen 
Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower, 
Nor aught of vegetative power, 

The weary eye may ken. 
For all is rocks at random thrown, 
Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone, 

As if were here denied 
The summer sun, the spring's sweet dew, 
That clothe with many a varied hue 

The bleakest mountain-side. 

XV. 

And wilder, forward as they wound, 
Were the proud cliffs and lake profound. 
Huge terraces of granite black 
Afforded rude and cumber'd track ; 

For from the mountain hoar, 
Hurl'd headlong in some night of fear, 
When yelPd the wolf and fled the deer, 

Loose crags had toppled o'er ; 
And some, chance-poised and balanced, lay, 
So that a stripling arm might sway 

A mass no host could raise, 
In Nature's rage at random thrown, 
Yet trembling like the Druid's stone 

On its precarious base. 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 05 

The evening mists, with ceaseless change, 
Now clothed the mountains' lofty range, 

Now left their foreheads bare, 
And round the skirts their mantle furl'd, 
Or on the sable waters curPd, 
Or on the eddying breezes whirPd, 

Dispersed in middle air. 
And oft, condensed, at once they lower, 
When, brief and fierce, the mountain shower 

Pours like a torrent down, 
And when return the sun's glad beams, 
Whiten'd with foam a thousand streams 

Leap from the mountain's crown. 

XVI. 

" This lake," said Bruce, " whose barriers drear 
Are precipices sharp and sheer, 
Yielding no track for goat or deer, 

Save the black shelves we tread, 
How term you its dark waves? and how 
Yon northern mountain's pathless brow, 

And yonder peak of dread, 
That to the evening sun uplifts 
The griesly gulfs and slaty rifts, 

Which seam its shiver'd head?" — 
" Coriskin call the dark lake's name, 
Coolin the ridge, as bards proclaim, 
From old Cuchullin, chief of fame. 
But bards, familiar in our isles 
Rather with Nature's frowns than smiles, 
Full oft their careless humours please 
By sportive names from scenes like these. 
I would old Torquil were to show 
His maidens with their breasts of snow, 



96 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

Or that my noble Liege were nigh 

To hear his Nurse sing lullaby ! 

(The Maids — tall cliffs with breakers white, 

The Nurse — a torrent's roaring might,) 

Or that your eye could see the mood 

Of Corryvrekin's whirlpool rude, 

When dons the Hag her whiten'd hood — 

'Tis thus our islesmen's fancy frames, 

For scenes so stern, fantastic names." 

XVII. 

Answer'd the Bruce, "And musing mind 

Might here a graver moral find. 

These mighty cliffs, that heave on high 

Their naked brows to middle sky, 

Indifferent to the sun or snow, 

Where nought can fade, and nought can blow, 

May they not mark a Monarch's fate, — 

Raised high 'mid storms of strife and state, 

Beyond life's lowlier pleasures placed, 

His soul a rock, his heart a waste ? l 

O'er hope and love and fear aloft 

High rears his crowned head — But soft! 

Look, underneath yon jutting crag 

Are hunters and a slaughter'd stag. 



1 p He who ascends to mountain-tops, shall find 
The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; 
He who surpasses or subdues mankind, 
Must look down on the hate of those below. 
Though high above the sun of glory glow, 
And far beneath the earth and ocean spread, 
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow 
Contending tempests on his naked head, 

And thus reward the toils which to those summits led." 

Childe Harold, Canto iii.] 



Canto III. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 97 

Who may they be 1 But late you said 
No steps these desert regions tread?" — 

XVIII. , 

" So said I — and believed in sooth," 

Ronald replied, " I spoke the truth. 

Yet now I spy, by yonder stone, 

Five men — they mark us, and come on; 

And by their badge on bonnet borne, 

I guess them of the land of Lorn, 

Foes to my Liege." — " So let it be ; 

I've faced worse odds than five to three — 

— But the poor page can little aid ; 

Then be our battle thus array'd, 

If our free passage they contest; 

Cope thou with two, I'll match the rest." — 

"Not so, my Liege — for, by my life, 

This sword shall meet the treble strife ; 

My strength, my skill in arms, more small, 

And less the loss should Ronald fall. 

But islesmen soon to soldiers grow, 

Allan has sword as well as bow, 

And were my Monarch's order given, 

Two shafts should make our number even." — 

"No! not to save my life!" he said; 

" Enough of blood rests on my head, 

Too rashly spilPd — we soon shall know, 

Whether they come as friend or foe." 

XIX. 

Nigh came the strangers, and more nigh ; — 
Still less they pleased the Monarch's eye. 
Vol. V. 9 



98 THE LOUD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

Men were they all of evil mien, 
Down-look'd, unwilling to be seen; 1 
They moved with half-resolved pace, 
And bent on earth each gloomy face. 
The foremost two were fair array'd, 
With brogue and bonnet, trews and plaid, 
And bore the arms of mountaineers, 
Daggers and broadswords, bows and spears. 
The three, that lagg'd small space behind, 
Seem'd serfs of more degraded kind; 
Goat-skins or deer-hides o'er them cast, 
Made a rude fence against the blast; 
Their arms and feet and heads were bare, 
Matted their beards, unshorn their hair; 
For arms, the caitiffs bore in hand, 
A club, as axe, a rusty brand. 

XX. 

Onward, still mute, they kept the track ; — 
" Tell who ye be, or else stand back," 
Said Bruce ; " In deserts when they meet, 
Men pass not as in peaceful street." 
Still, at his stern command, they stood, 
And proffer'd greeting brief and rude, 
But acted courtesy so ill, 
As seem'd of fear, and not of will. 
'Wanderers we are, as you may be; 
Men hither driven by wind and sea, 
Who, if you list to taste our cheer, 
Will share with you this fallow deer." — 
"If from the sea, where lies your bark?" — 
" Ten fathom deep in ocean dark ! 

1 [See Appendix, Note M.] 



Canto III. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 99 

Wreck'd yesternight : but we are men, 

Who little sense of peril ken. 

The shades come down — the day is shut — 

Will you go with us to our hut?" — 

" Our vessel waits us in the bay ; 

Thanks for your proffer — have good-day." — 

" Was that your galley, then, which rode 

Not far from shore when evening glow'd?" — 

" It was." — " Then spare your needless pain, 

There will she now be sought in vain. 

We saw her from the mountain head, 

When with St. George's blazon red 

A southern vessel bore in sight, 

And yours raised sail, and took to flight." — 

XXI. 

"Now, by the rood, unwelcome news!" 
Thus with Lord Ronald communed Bruce; 
" Nor rests there light enough to show 
If this their tale be true or no. 
The men seem bred of churlish kind, 
Fet mellow nuts have hardest rind; 
We will go with them — food and fire 
And sheltering roof our wants require. 
Sure guard 'gainst treachery will we keep, 
And watch by turns our comrades' sleep. — 
Good fellows, thanks; your guests we'll be, 
And well will pay the courtesy. 
Come, lead us where your lodging lies, — 
— Nay, soft! we mix not companies. — 
Show us the path o'er crag and stone, 
And we will follow you; — lead on." 



100 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto III. 

XXII. 
They reach'd the dreary cabin, made 
Of sails against a rock display'd, 

And there, on entering, found 
A slender boy, whose form and mien 
111 suited with such savage scene, 
In cap and cloak of velvet green, 

Low seated on the ground. 
His garb was such as minstrels wear, 
Dark was his hue, and dark his hair, 
His youthful cheek was marr'd by care, 

His eyes in sorrow drown'd. 
"Whence this poor boy?" — As Ronald spa 
The voice his trance of anguish broke ; 
As if awaked from ghastly dream, 
He raised his head with start and scream, 

And wildly gazed around; 
Then to the wall his face he turn'd, 
And his dark neck with blushes burn'd. 

XXIII. 

"Whose is the boy?" again he said. 
" By chance of war our captive made ; 
He may be yours, if you should hold 
That music has more charms than gold; 
For, though from earliest childhood mute, 
The lad can deftly touch the lute, 

And on the rote and viol play, 

And well can drive the time away 
For those who love such glee; 

For me, the favouring breeze, when loud 

It pipes upon the galley's shroud, 
Makes blither melody." — 



Canto III. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 101 

"Hath he, then, sense of spoken sound?" — 
"Aye; so his mother bade us know, 

A crone in our late shipwreck drown'd, 
And hence the silly stripling's woe. 

More of the youth I cannot say, 

Our captive but since yesterday; 

When wind and weather wax'd so grim, 

We little listed think of him. — 

But why waste time in idle words ? 

Sit to your cheer — unbelt your swords." 

Sudden the captive turn'd his head, 

And one quick glance to Ronald sped. 

It \vas a keen and warning look, 

And well the Chief the signal took. 

XXIV. 

"Kind host," he said, "our needs require 
A separate board and separate fire; 
For know, that on a pilgrimage 
Wend I, my comrade, and this page. 
And, sworn to vigil and to fast, 
Long as this hallow'd task shall last, 
We never doff the plaid or sword, 
Or feast us at a stranger's board ; 
And never share one common sleep, 
But one must still his vigil keep. 
Thus, for our separate use, good friend, 
We'll hold this hut's remoter end." — 
"A churlish vow," the eldest said, 
" And hard, methinks, to be obey'd. 
How say you, if, to wreak the scorn 
That pays our kindness harsh return, 
9* 



102 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

We should refuse to share our meal?" — 
" Then say we, that our swords are steel ! 
And our vow binds us not to fast, 
Where gold or force may buy repast." 
Their host's dark brow grew keen and fell, 
His teeth are clench'd, his features swell; 
Yet sunk the felon's moody ire 
Before Lord Ronald's glance of fire, 
Nor could his craven courage brook 
The Monarch's calm and dauntless look. 
With laugh constrain'd, — " Let every man 
Follow the fashion of his clan ! 
Each to his separate quarters keep, 
And feed or fast, or wake or sleep." 

XXV. 

Their fire at separate distance burns, 

By turns they eat, keep guard by turns ; 

For evil seem'd that old man's eye, 

Dark and designing, fierce yet shy. 

Still he avoided forward look, 

But slow and circumspectly took 

A circling, never-ceasing glance, 

By doubt and cunning mark'd at once, 

Which shot a mischief-boding ray, 

From under eyebrows shagg'd and grey. 

The younger, too, who seem'd his son, 

Had that dark look the timid shun ; 

The half-clad serfs behind them sate, 

And scowl'd a glare 'twixt fear and hate — 

Till all, as darkness onward crept, 

Couch'd down, and seem'd to sleep, or slept 



Canto III. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 103 

Nor he, that boy, whose powerless tongue 
Must trust his eyes to wail his wrong, 
A longer watch of sorrow made, 
But stretch'd his limbs to slumber laid. 



XXVL 

Not in his dangerous host confides 

The King, but wary watch provides. 

Ronald keeps ward till midnight past, 

Then wakes the King, young Allan last; 

Thus rank'd, to give the youthful page 

The rest required by tender age. 

What is Lord Ronald's wakeful thought, 

To chase the languor toil had brought? — 

(For deem not that he deignM to throw 

Much care upon such coward foe,) — 

He thinks of lovely Isabel, 

When at her foeman's feet she fell, 

Nor less when, placed in princely selle, 

She glanced on him with favouring eyes, 

At Woodstocke when he won the prize. 

Nor, fair in joy, in sorrow fair, 

In pride of place as 'mid despair, 

Must she alone engross his care. 

His thoughts to his betrothed bride, 

To Edith, turn — O how decide, 

When here his love and heart are given, 

And there his faith stands plight to Heaven 1 

No drowsy ward 'tis his to keep, 

For seldom lovers long for sleep. 

Till sung his midnight hymn the owl, 

Answer'd the dog-fox with his howl, 



104 THE LORir OF THE ISLES. Canto UL f; 

Then waked the King — at his request, 
Lord Ronald stretch'd himself to rest. 

XXVII. 

What spell was good King Robert's, say, 

To drive the weary night away? 

His was the patriot's burning thought, 

Of Freedom's battle bravely fought, 

Of castles storm'd, of cities freed, 

Of deep design and daring deed, 

Of England's roses reft and torn, 

And Scotland's cross in triumph worn, 

Of rout and rally, war and truce, — 

As heroes think, so thought the Bruce. 

No marvel, 'mid such musings high, 

Sleep shunn'd the monarch's thoughtful eye. 

Now over Coolin's eastern head 

The greyish light begins to spread, 

The otter to his cavern drew, 

And clamour'd shrill the wakening mew; 

Then watch'd the page — to needful rest 

The King resign'd his anxious breast. 

XXVIII. 
To Allan's eyes was harder task, 
The weary watch their safeties ask. 
He trimm'd the fire, and gave to shine 
With bickering light the splinter'd pine ; 
Then gazed awhile, where silent laid 
Their hosts were shrouded by the plaid. 
But little fear waked in his mind, 
For he was bred of martial kind, 
And, if to manhood he arrive, 
May match the boldest knight alive. 



i 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 105 

Then thought he of his mother's tower, 
His little sisters' greenwood bower, 
How there the Easter-gambols pass, 
And of Dan Joseph's lengthen'd mass. 
But still before his weary eye 
In rays prolong'd the blazes die — 
Again he roused him — on the lake 
Look'd forth, where now the twilight-flake 
Of pale cold dawn began to wake. 
On Coolin's cliffs the mist lay furl'd, 
The morning breeze the lake had curl'd, 
The short dark waves, heaved to the land, 
With ceaseless plash kiss'd cliff or sand; — 
It was a slumbrous sound — he turnM 
To tales at which his youth had burn'd, 
Of pilgrim's path by demon cross'd, 
Of sprightly elf or yelling ghost, 
Of the wild witch's baneful cot, 
And mermaid's alabaster grot, 
Who bathes her limbs in sunless well 
Deep in Strathaird's enchanted cell. 1 

1 Imagination can hardly conceive any thing more beautiful 
than the extraordinary grotto discovered not many years since 
upon the estate of Alexander Mac-Allister, Esq. of Strathaird. 
It has since been much and deservedly celebrated, and a full 
account of its beauties has been published by Dr. Mac-Leay of 
Oban. The general impression may perhaps be gathered from 
the following extract from a journal, which, written under the 
feelings of the moment, is likely to be more accurate than any 
attempt to recollect the impressions then received. — " The first 
entrance to this celebrated cave is rude and unpromising; but 
the light of the torches, with which we were provided, was soon 
reflected from the roof, floor, and walls, which seem as if they 
were sheeted with marble, partly smooth, partly rough with frost- 



106 THE LORB OF THE ISLES Canto WL 

Thither in fancy rapt he flies, 
And on his sight the vaults arise ; 

work and rustic ornaments, and partly seeming to be wrought 
into statuary. The floor forms a steep and difficult ascent, and 
might be fancifully compared to a sheet of water, which, while 
it rushed whitening and foaming down a declivity, had been sud- 
denly arrested and consolidated by the spell of an enchanter. 
Upon attaining the summit of this ascent, the cave opens into a 
splendid gallery, adorned with the most dazzling crystallizations, 
and finally descends with rapidity to the brink of a pool, of the 
most limpid water, about four or five yards broad. There opens 
beyond this pool a portal arch, formed by two columns of white 
spar, with beautiful chasing upon the sides, which promises a 
continuation of the cave. One of our sailors swam across, for 
there is no other mode of passing, and informed us (as indeed we- 
partly saw by the light he carried) that the enchantment of 
Maccalister's cave terminates with this portal, a little beyond 
which there was only a rude cavern, speedily choked with stones 
and earth. But the pool, on the brink of which we stood, sur- 
rounded by the most fanciful mouldings, in a substance resem- 
bling white marble, and distinguished by the depth and purity 
of its waters, might have been the bathing grotto of a naiad. 
The groups of combined figures projecting, or embossed, by 
which the pool is surrounded, are exquisitely elegant and fanci- 
ful. A statuary might catch beautiful hints from the singular 
and romantic disposition of those stalactites. There is scarce a 
form, or group, on which active fancy may not trace figures or 
grotesque ornaments, which have been gradually moulded in this 
cavern by the dropping of the calcareous water hardening into 
petrifactions. Many of those fine groups have been injured by 
the senseless rage of appropriation of recent tourists ; and the 
grotto has lost, (I am informed,) through the smoke of torches* 
something of that vivid silver tint which was originally one of 
its chief distinctions. But enough of beauty remains to compen- 
sate for all that may be lost." — Mr. Mac-Allister of Straithaird 
has, with great propriety, built up the exterior entrance to this 
cave, in order that strangers may enter properly attended by a 



Canto III. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 107 

That hut's dark walls he sees no more, 
His foot is on the marble floor, 
And o'er his head the dazzling spars 
Gleam like a firmament of stars ! 
— Hark! hears he not the sea-nymph speak 
Her anger in that thrilling shriek ! — 
No ! all too late, with Allan's dream 
Mingled the captive's warning scream. 
As from the ground he strives to start, 
A ruffian's dagger finds his heart! 
Upward he casts his dizzy eyes, . . . 
Murmurs his master's name, . . . and dies ! 

XXIX. 

Not so awoke the King! his hand 
Snatch'd from the flame a knotted brand, 
The nearest weapon of his wraths 
With this he cross'd the murderer's path, 

And venged young Allan well ! 
The spatter'd brain and bubbling blood 
Hiss'd on the half-extinguish'd wood, 

The miscreant gasp'd and fell ! 
Nor rose in peace the Island Lord; 
One caitiff died upon his sword, 
And one beneath his grasp lies prone, 
In mortal grapple overthrown. 
But while Lord Ronald's dagger drank 
The life-blood from his panting flank, 
The Father-ruffian of the band 
Behind him rears a coward hand ! 

guide, to prevent any repetition of the wanton and selfish injury 
which this singular scene has already sustained. 



108 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III. 

— O for a moment's aid, 
Till Bruce, who deals no double blow, 1 
Dash to the earth another foe, 

Above his comrade laid ! — 
And it is gain'd — the captive sprung 
On the raised arm, and closely clung, 

And, ere he shook him loose, 
The master'd felon press'd the ground, 
And gasp'd beneath a mortal wound, 

While o'er him stands the Bruce. 

XXX. 

"Miscreant! while lasts thy flitting spark, 

Give me to know the purpose dark, 

That arm'd thy hand with murderous knife, 

Against offenceless stranger's life?" — 

" No stranger thou ! " with accent fell, 

Murmur'd the wretch ; " I know thee well ; 

And know thee for the foeman sworn 

Of my high chief, the mighty Lorn." — 

" Speak yet again, and speak the truth 

For thy soul's sake ! — from whence this youth ? 

His country, birth, and name declare, 

And thus one evil deed repair." — 

— " Vex me no more ! . . . my blood runs cold . . . 

No more I know than I have told. 

1 [" On witnessing the disinterment of Bruce's remains at Dun- 
fermline, in 1822," says Sir Walter, " many people shed tears ; 
for there was the wasted skull, which once was the head that 
thought so wisely and boldly for his country's deliverance ; and 
there was the dry bone, which had once been the sturdy arm that 
killed Sir Henry de Bohun, between the two armies, at a single 
blow, on the evening before the battle of Bannockburn." — Tales 
of a Grandfather. First Series, vol. i. p. 255.] 



Canto III THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 109 

We found him in a bark we sought 
With different purpose . . . and I thought" 
Fate cut him short; in blood and broil, 
As he had lived, died Cormac DoiL 

XXXI. 

Then resting on his bloody blade, 

The valiant Bruce to Ronald said, 

u Now shame upon us both ! — that boy 

Lifts his mute face to heaven, 
And clasps his hands, to testify 
His gratitude to God on high, 

For strange deliverance given. 
His speechless gesture thanks hath paid, 
Which our free tongues have left unsaid!" 
He raised the youth with kindly word, 
But mark'd him shudder at the sword: 
He cleansed it from its hue of death, 
And plunged the weapon in its sheath. 
" Alas, poor child ! unfitting part 
Fate doom'd, when with so soft a heart, 

And form so slight as thine, 
She made thee first a pirate's slave, 
Then, in his stead, a patron gave 

Of wavward lot like mine; 
A landless prince, whose wandering life 
Is but one scene of blood and strife — 
Yet scant of friends the Bruce shall be, 
But he'll find resting-place for thee. — 
Come, noble Ronald ! o'er the dead 
Enough thy generous grief is paid, 
And well has Allan's fate been wroke; 
Come, wend we hence — the day has broke. 
Vol. V. 10 



110 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto III 

Seek we our bark — I trust the tale 
Was false, that she had hoisted sail." 

XXXII. 

Yet, ere they left that charnel-cell, 
The Island Lord bade sad farewell 
To Allan:— "Who shall tell this tale," 
He said, " in halls of Donagaile ! 
Oh, who his widow'd mother tell, 
That, ere his bloom, her fairest fell! — 
Rest thee, poor youth ! and trust my care 
For mass and knell and funeral prayer; 
While o'er those caitiffs, where they lie, 
The wolf shall snarl, the raven cry ! " 
And now the eastern mountain's head 
On the dark lake threw lustre red ; 
Bright gleams of gold and purple streak 
Ravine and precipice and peak — 
(So earthly power at distance shows; 
Reveals his splendour, hides his woes.) 
O'er sheets of granite, dark and broad, 
Rent and unequal, lay the road. 
In sad discourse the warriors wind, 
And the mute captive moves behind. 






THE 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FOURTH. 



113 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FOURTH. 



Stranger ! if e'er thine ardent step hath traced 
The northern realms of ancient Caledon, 
Where the proud Queen of Wilderness hath placed, 
By lake and cataract, her lonely throne ; 
Sublime but sad delight thy soul hath known, 
Gazing on pathless glen and mountain high, 
Listing where from the cliffs the torrents thrown 
Mingle their echoes with the eagle's cry, 
And with the sounding lake, and with the moaning 
sky. 

Yes! 'twas sublime, but sad. — The loneliness 

Loaded thy heart, the desert tired thine eye ; 

And strange and awful fears began to press 

Thy bosom with a stern solemnity. 

Then hast thou wish'd some woodman's cottage 

nigh, 
Something that show'd of life, though low and mean ; 
Glad sight, its curling wreath of smoke to spy, 
Glad sound, its cock's blithe carol would have been, 
Or children whooping wild beneath the willows 

green. 
10* 



114 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

Such are the scenes, where savage grandeur wakes 
An awful thrill that softens into sighs ; 
Such feelings rouse them by dim Rannoch's lakes, 
In dark Glencoe such gloomy raptures rise : 
Or farther, where, beneath the northern skies. 
Chides wild Loch-Eribol his caverns hoar — 
But, be the minstrel judge, they yield the prize 
Of desert dignity to that dread shore, 
That sees grim Coolin rise, and hears Coriskin roan 

II. 

Through such wild scenes the champion pass'd, 

When bold halloo and bugle-blast 

Upon the breeze came loud and fast. 

11 There," said the Bruce, " rung Edward's horn I 

What can have caused such brief return? 

And see, brave Ronald, — see him dart 

O'er stock and stone like hunted hart, 

Precipitate, as is the use, 

In war or sport, of Edward Bruce. 

— He marks us, and his eager cry 

Will tell his news ere he be nigh." 

III. 
Loud Edward shouts, " What make ye here, 
Warring upon the mountain deer, 

When Scotland wants her King? 
A bark from Lennox cross'd our track, 
With her in speed I hurried back, 

These joyful news to bring — 
The Stuart stirs in Teviotdale, 
And Douglas wakes his native vale; 
Thy storm-toss'd fleet hath won its way 
With little loss to Brodick-Bay, 



i 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 115 

And Lennox, with a gallant band, 

Waits but thy coming and command 

To waft them o'er to Carrick strand. 

There are blithe news ! — but mark the close ! 

Edward, the deadliest of our foes, 

As with his host he northward pass'd, 

Hath on the Borders breathed his last." 

IV. 

Still stood the Bruce — his steady cheek 
Was little wont his joy to speak, 

But then his colour rose : 
" Now, Scotland ! shortly shalt thou see, 
With God's high will, thy children free, 

And vengeance on thy foes ! 
Yet to no sense of selfish wrongs, 
Bear witness with me, Heaven, belongs 

My joy o'er Edward's bier; 1 

1 The generosity which does justice to the character of an 
enemy, often marks Bruce's sentiments, as recorded by the faith- 
ful Barbour. He seldom mentions a fallen enemy without prais- 
ing such good qualities as he might possess. I shall only take 
one instance. Shortly after Bruce landed in Carrick, in 1306, 
Sir Ingram Bell, the English governor of Ayr, engaged a wealthy 
yeoman, who had hitherto been a follower of Bruce, to undertake 
the task of assassinating him. The King learned this treachery, 
as he is said to have done other secrets of the enemy, by means 
of a female with whom he had an intrigue. Shortly after he 
was possessed of this information, Bruce, resorting to a small 
thicket at a distance from his men, with only a single page to 
attend him, met the traitor, accompanied by two of his sons. 
They approached him with their wonted familiarity, but Bruce, 
taking his page's bow and arrow, commanded them to keep at a 
distance. As they still pressed forward with professions of zeal 
for his person and service, he, after a second warning, shot the 



116 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto I\ 

I took my knighthood at his hand, 
And lordship held of him, and land, 

And well may vouch it here, 
That, hlot the story from his page, 
Of Scotland ruin'd in his rage, 
You read a monarch brave and sage, 

And to his people dear." — 
" Let London's burghers mourn her Lord, 
And Croydon monks his praise record," 

The eager Edward said ; 
" Eternal as his own, my hate 
Surmounts the bounds of mortal fate, 

And dies not with the dead ! 
Such hate was his on Sol way's strand, 
When vengeance clench'd his palsied hand, 
That pointed yet to Scotland's land, 1 

As his last accents pray'd 

father with the arrow ; and being assaulted successively by the 
two sons, despatched first one, who was armed with an axe, then 
as the other charged him with a spear, avoided the thrust, struck 
the head from the spear, and cleft the skull of the assassin with 
a blow of his two-handed sword. 

'*He rushed down of blood all red, 

And when the king saw they were dead, 

All three lying, he wiped his brand. 

With that his boy came fast running, 

And said, 4 Our lord might lowyt* be, * Lauded. 

That granted you might and powestet t Power. 

To fell the felony and the pride, 

Of three in so little tide.' 

The king said, ' So our lord me see, 

They have been worthy men all three, 

Had they not been full of treason : 

But that made their confusion.'" — Barbour'3 Bruce, b v. p. 153 

1 [See Appendix, Note N.] 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 117 

Disgrace and curse upon his heir, 
If he one Scottish head should spare, 
Till stretch'd upon the bloody lair 

Each rebel corpse was laid ! 
Such hate was his, when his last breath 
Renounced the peaceful house of death, 
And bade his bones to Scotland's coast 
Be borne by his remorseless host, 
As if his dead and stony eye 
Could still enjoy her misery ! 
Such hate was his — dark, deadly, long; 
Mine, — as enduring, deep, and strong!" — 

V. 

"Let women, Edward, war with words, 

With curses monks, but men with swords : 

Nor doubt of living foes, to sate 

Deepest revenge and deadliest hate. 

Now, to the sea ! behold the beach, 

And see the galleys' pendants stretch 

Their fluttering length down favouring gale! 

Aboard, aboard! and hoist the sail. 

Hold we our way for Arran first, 

Where meet in arms our friends dispersed; 

Lennox the loyal, De la Haye, 

And Boyd the bold in battle fray. 

I long the hardy band to head, 

And see once more my standard spread.— • 

Does noble Ronald share our course, 

Or stay to raise his island force?" — 

"Come weal, come woe, by Bruce's side," 

Replied the Chief, "will Ronald bide. 

And since two galleys yonder ride. 




118 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. j 

Be mine, so please my liege, dismiss'd 
To wake to arms the clans of Uist, 
And all who hear the Minche's roar, 
On the Long Island's lonely shore, 
The nearer Isles, with slight delay, 
Ourselves may summon in our way ; 
And soon on Arran's shore shall meet, 
With TorquiPs aid, a gallant fleet, 
If aught avails their Chieftain's hest 
Among the islesmen of the west." 

VI. 

Thus w T as their venturous council said. 
But, ere their sails the galleys spread, 
Coriskin dark and Coolin high 
Echoed the dirge's doleful cry. 
Along that sable lake pass'd slow, — 
Fit scene for such a sight of woe, — 
The sorrowing islesmen, as they bore 
The murder'd Allan to the shore. 
At every pause, with dismal shout, 
Their coronach of grief rung out, 
And ever, w 7 hen they moved again, 
The pipes resumed their clamorous strain, 
And, with the pibroch's shrilling wail, 
Mourn'd the young heir of Donagaile. 
Round and around, from cliff and cave, 
His answer stern old Coolin gave, 
Till high upon his misty side 
Languish'd the mournful notes, and died. 
For never sounds, by mortal made, 
Attain'd his high and haggard head, 
That echoes but the tempest's moan, 
Or the deep thunder's rending groan. 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 119 

VII. 

Merrily, merrily bounds the bark, 

She bounds before the gale, 
The mountain breeze from Ben-na-darch 

Is joyous in her sail ! 
With fluttering sound like laughter hoarse 

The cords and canvas strain, 
The waves, divided by her force, 
In rippling eddies chased her course, 

As if they laugh'd again. 
Not down the breeze more blithely blew, 
Skimming the wave, the light sea-mew, 

Than the gay galley bore 
Her course upon that favouring wind, 
And Coolin's crest has sunk behind, 

And Slapin's cavern'd shore. 
'T was then that warlike signals wake 
Dunscaith's dark towers and Eisord's lake, 
And soon, from Cavilgarrigh's head, 
Thick wreaths of eddying smoke were spread ; 
A summons these of war and wrath 
To the brave clans of Sleat and Strath, 

And, ready at the sight, 
Each warrior to his weapons sprung, 
And targe upon his shoulder flung, 

Impatient for the fight. 
Mac-Kinnon's chief, in warfare grey, 
Had charge to muster their array, 
And guide their barks to Brodick-Bay. 

VIII. 
Signal of Ronald's high command, 
A beacon gleam'd o'er sea and land, 



120 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

From Carina's tower, that, steep and grey, 
Like falcon-nest o'erhangs the bay. 1 
Seek not the giddy crag to climb, 
To view the turret scathed by time; 
It is a task of doubt and fear 
To aught but goat or mountain-deer. 
But rest thee on the silver beach, 
And let the aged herdsman teach 

His tale of former day; 
His cur's wild clamour he shall chide, 
And for thy seat by ocean's side, 

His varied plaid display; 
Then tell, how with their Chieftain came, 
In ancient times, a foreign dame 
To yonder turret grey. 
Stern was her Lord's suspicious mind, 
Who in so rude a jail confined 

So soft and fair a thrall ! 
And oft when moon on ocean slept, 
That lovely lady sate and wept 

Upon the castle-wall, 
And turn'd her eye to southern climes, 
And thought perchance of happier times, 



1 The little island of Canna, or Cannay, adjoins to those of Rum 
and Muick, with which it forms one parish. In a pretty bay- 
opening towards the east, there is a lofty and slender rock de- 
tached from the shore. Upon the summit are the ruins of a very 
small tower, scarcely accessible by a steep and precipitous path. 
Here it is said one of the kings, or Lords of the Isles, confined a 
beautiful lady, of whom he was jealous. The ruins are of course 
haunted by her restless spirit, and many romantic stories are told 
by the aged people of the island concerning her fate in life, and 
ner appearances after death. 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 121 

And touch'd her lute by fits, and sung 
Wild ditties in her native tongue. 
And still, when on the cliff and bay- 
Placid and pale the moonbeams play, 

And every breeze is mute, 
Upon the lone Hebridean's ear, 
Steals a strange pleasure mix'd with fear, 
While from that cliff he seems to hear 

The murmur of a lute, 
And sounds, as of a captive lone, 
That mourns her woes in tongue unknown. — 
Strange is the tale — but all too long 
Already hath it staid the song — 

Yet who may pass them by, 
That crag and tower in ruins grey, 
Nor to their hapless tenant pay 

The tribute of a sigh ! 

IX. 

Merrily, merrily bounds the bark 

O'er the broad ocean driven, 
Her path by Ronin's mountains dark 

The steersman's hand hath given. 
And Ronin's mountains dark have sent 

Their hunters to the shore, 1 

1 Ronin (popularly called Rum, a name which a poet may be 
pardoned for avoiding if possible) is a very rough and mountain- 
ous island, adjacent to those of Eigg and Cannay. There is almost 
no arable ground upon it, so that, except in the plenty of the deer, 
which of course are now nearly extirpated, it still deserves the 
description bestowed by the archdean of the Isles. " Ronin, six- 
teen myle north-wast from the ile of Coll, lyes ane ile callit Ronin 
He, of sixteen myle long, and six in bredthe in the narrowest, 

Vol. V. 11 



122 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

And each his ashen bow unbent, 

And gave his pastime o'er, 
And at the Island Lord's command, 
For hunting spear took warrior's bran. 
On Scooreigg next a warning light 
Summon'd her warriors to the fight; 
A numerous race, ere stern Macleod 
O'er their bleak shores in vengeance strode, 1 
When all in vain the ocean-cave 
Its refuge to his victims gave. 
The Chief, relentless in his wrath, 
With blazing heath blockades the path ; 
In dense and stifling volumes roll'd, 
The vapour fill'd the cavern'd hold ! 
The warrior-threat, the infant's plain, 
The mother's screams, were heard in vain; 
The vengeful Chief maintains his fires, 
Till in the vault a tribe expires ! 
The bones which strew that cavern's gloom, 
Too well attest their dismal doom. 

X. 

Merrily, merrily goes the bark 2 

On a breeze from the northward free, 

ane forest of heigh mountains, and abundance of little deir in it, 
quhilk deir will never be slane dounewith, but the principal sait- 
tis man be in the height of the hill, because the deir will be callit 
upwart ay be the tainchell, or without tynchel they will pass 
upwart perforce. In this ile will be gotten about Britane als 
many wild nests upon the plane mure as men pleasis to gadder, 
and yet by resson the fowls hes few to start them except deir. 
This ile lyes from the west to the eist in lenth, and pertains to 
M'Kenabrey of Colla. Many solan geese are in this ile."— 
Monro's Description of the Western Isles, p. 18. 

1 [See Appendix, Note O.] 2 [See Appendix, Note E.] 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES, 123 

So shoots through the morning sky the lark, 
Or the swan through the summer sea. 

The shores of Mull on the eastward lay, 

And Ulva dark and Colonsay, 

And all the group of islets gay 

That guard famed Staffa round. 

Then all unknown its columns rose, 

Where dark and undisturb'd repose 
The cormorant had found, 

And the shy seal had quiet home, 

And welter'd in that wondrous dome, 

Where, as to shame the temples deck'd 

By skill of earthly architect, 

Nature herself, it seem'd, would raise 

A Minster to her Maker's praise! 1 

1 It would be unpardonable to detain the reader upon a wonder 
so often described, and yet so incapable of being understood by 
description. This palace of Neptune is even grander upon a 
second than the first view. The stupendous columns which form 
the sides of the cave, the depth and strength of the tide which 
rolls its deep and heavy swell up to the extremity of the vault 
— the variety of tints formed by white, crimson, and yellow 
stalactites, or petrifactions, which occupy the vacancies between 
the base of the broken pillars which form the roof, and intersect 
them with a rich, curious, and variegated chasing, occupying 
each interstice — the corresponding variety below water, where 
the ocean rolls over a dark-red or violet-coloured rock, from 
which, as from a base, the basaltic columns arise — the tremen- 
dous noise of the swelling tide, mingling with the deep-toned 
echoes of the vault, — are circumstances elsewhere unparalleled. 

Nothing can be more interesting than the varied appearance 
of the little archipelago of islets, of which StafFa is the most 
remarkable. This group, called in Gaelic Tresharnish, affords 
a thousand varied views to the voyager, as they appear in differ- 
ent positions with reference to his course. The variety of their 
shape contributes much to the beauty of these effects. 



124 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

Not for a meaner use ascend 

Her columns, or her arches bend; 

Nor of a theme less solemn tells 

That mighty surge that ebbs and swells, 

And still, between each awful pause* 

From the high vault an answer draws, 

In varied tone prolong'd and high, 

That mocks the organ's melody. 

Nor doth its entrance front in vain 

To old Iona's holy fane, 

That Nature's voice might seem to say, 

"Well hast thou done, frail Child of clay! 

Thy humble powers that stately shrine 

Task'd high and hard — but witness mine!" 

XL 

Merrily, merrily goes the bark, 

Before the gale she bounds; 
So darts the dolphin from the shark, 

Or the deer before the hounds. 
They left Loch-Tua on their lee, 
And they waken'd the men of the wild Tiree, 

And the Chief of the sandy Coll ; 
They paused not at Columba's isle, 
Though peal'd the bells from the holy pile 

With long and measured toll; 1 

1 [" We were now treading that illustrious island, which was 
once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage 
clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, 
and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local 
emotion would be impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would 
be foolish, if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the 
power of our senses ; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the 
future nredominate over the present, advances us in the dignity 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 125 

No time for matin or for mass. 

And the sounds of the holy summons pass 

Awav in the billows' roll. 

tt 

Lochbuie's fierce and warlike Lord 
Their signal saw, and grasp'd his sword 
And verdant Hay calPd her host, 
And the clans of Jura's rugged coast 

Lord Ronald's call obey, 
And Scarba's isle, whose tortured shore 
Still rings to Corrievreken's roar, 

And lonely Colonsay ; 
— Scenes sung by him who sings no more ! 
His bright and brief career is o'er, 

And mute his tuneful strains ; 
Quench'd is his lamp of varied lore, 
That loved the light of song to pour 
A distant and a deadly shore 

Has Leyden's cold remains! 1 



of thinking beings. Far from me and from my friends be such 
frigid philosophy, as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved 
over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, 
or virtue. That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism 
would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety 
would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona." — Johnson.] 
1 The ballad, entitled " Macphail of Colonsay, and the Mer- 
maid of Corrievrekin," [See Border Minstrelsy, vol. iv. p. 285,] 
was composed by John Leyden, from a tradition which he found 
while making a tour through the Hebrides about 1801, soon 
before his fatal departure for India, where, after having made 
farther progress in Oriental literature than any man of letters 
who had embraced those studies, he died a martyr to his zeal for 
knowledge, in the island of Java, immediately after the landing 
of our forces near Batavia, in August, 1811. 
11* 



126 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

XII. 
Ever the breeze blows merrily, 
But the galley ploughs no more the sea. 
Lest, rounding wild Cantire, they meet 
The southern foeman's watchful fleet, 

They held unwonted way ; — 
Up Tarbat's western lake they bore, 
Then dragg'd their bark the isthmus o'er, 1 
As far as Kilmaconnel's shore, 

Upon the eastern bay. 
It was a wondrous sight to see 
Topmast and pennon glitter free, 
High raised above the greenwood tree, 
As on dry land the galley moves, 
By cliff and copse and alder groves. 
Deep import from that selcouth sign, 
Did many a mountain Seer divine, 
For ancient legends told the Gael, 
That when a royal bark should sail 

O'er Kiimaconnel moss, 
Old Albyn should in fight prevail, 
And every foe should faint and quail 

Before her silver Cross. 

XIII. 
Now launch'd once more, the inland sea 
They furrow with fair augury, 

And steer for Arran's isle ; 
The sun, ere yet he sunk behind 
Ben-Ghoil, " the Mountain of the Wind, 
Gave his grim peaks a greeting kind, 

And bade Loch Ranza smile. 2 

3 Loch Ranza is a beautiful bay, on the northern extremity of 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 127 

Thither their destined course they drew; 
It seem'd the isle her monarch knew, 
So brilliant was the landward view, 

The ocean so serene ; 
Each puny wave in diamonds rolPd 
O'er the calm deep, where hues of gold 

With azure strove and green. 
The hill, the vale, the tree, the tower, 
Glow'd with the tints of evening's hour, 

The beach was silver sheen, 
The wind breathed soft as lover's sigh, 
And, oft renew'd, seem'd oft to die, 

With breathless pause between. 
O who, with speech of war and woes, 
Would wish to break the soft repose 

Of such enchanting scene ! 

XIV. 

Is it of war Lord Ronald speaks ? 
The blush that dyes his manly cheeks, 
The timid look, and downcast eye, 
And faltering voice the theme deny. 

Arran, opening towards East Tarbat Loch. It is well described 
by Pennant : — " The approach was magnificent ; a fine bay in 
front, about a mile deep, having a ruined castle near the lower 
end, on a low far projecting neck of land, that forms another har- 
bour, with a narrow passage; but within has three fathom of 
water, even at the lowest ebb. Beyond is a little plain watered 
by a stream, and inhabited by the people of a small village. The 
whole is environed with a theatre of mountains; and in the 
background the serrated crags of Grianan-Athol soar above." — 
Pennant's Tour to the Western Isles, p. 191-2. Ben-Ghaoil, 
" the mountain of the winds," is generally known by its English, 
and less poetical name, of Goatfield. 



128 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV, 

And good King Robert's brow express'd, 
He ponder'd o'er some high request* 

As doubtful to approve ; 
Yet in his eye and lip the while, 
Dwelt the half-pitying glance and smiK, 
Which manhood's graver mood beguile, 
When lovers talk of love. 

Anxious his suit Lord Ronald pled ; 

— " And for my bride betroth'd," he said, 

" My Liege has heard the rumour spread 

Of Edith from Artornish fled. 

Too hard her fate — I claim no right 

To blame her for her hasty flight; 

Be joy and happiness her lot ! — 

But she hath fled the bridal-knot, 

And Lorn recall'd his promised plight. 

In the assembled chieftains' sight. — 
When, to fulfil our fathers' band, 
I proffer'd all I could — my hand — 

I was repulsed with scorn ; 
Mine honour 1 should ill assert, 
And worse the feelings of my heart, 
If I should play a suitor's part 
Again, to pleasure Lorn." — 

XV. 

" Young Lord," the Royal Bruce replied, 
" That question must the Church decide ; 
Yet seems it hard, since rumours state 
Edith takes Clifford for her mate, 
The very tie, which she hath broke, 
To thee should still be binding yoke. 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 129 

But, for t\j sister Isabel — 
The mooc of woman who can tell 1 
I guess the Champion of the Rock, 
Victorious in the tourney shock, 
That kiight unknown, to whom the prize 
She d<alt, — had favour in her eyes; 
But shce our brother Nigel's fate, 
Our iuin'd house and hapless state, 
From worldly joy and hope estranged, 
Much is the hapless mourner changed. 
Perchance," here smiled the noble King, 
" This tale may other musings bring. 
Soon shall we know — yon mountains hide 
The little convent of Saint Bride ; 
There, sent by Edward, she must stay, 
Till fate shall give more prosperous day ; 
And thither will I bear thy suit, 
Nor will thine advocate be mute." 

XVI. 

As thus they talk'd in earnest mood, 
That speechless boy beside them stood. 
He stoop'd his head against the mast, 
And bitter sobs came thick and fast, 
A grief that would not be repress'd, 
But seem'd to burst his youthful breast. 
His hands, against his forehead held, 
As if by force his tears repell'd, 
But through his fingers, long and slight, 
Fast trilPd the drops of crystal bright. 
Edward, who walk'd the deck apart, 
First spied this conflict of the heart. 
Thoughtless as brave, with bluntness kind 
He sought to cheer the sorrower's mind; 



130 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

By force the slender hand he drew 

From those poor eyes that stream'd vith dew. 

As in his hold the stripling strove, — 

('Twas a rough grasp, though meant ir, love,) 

Away his tears the warrior swept 

And bade shame on him that he wept. 

" I would to heaven, thy helpless tongue 

Could tell me who hath wrought thee wrong; 

For, were he of our crew the best, 

The insult went not unredress'd. 

Come, cheer thee ; thou art now of age 

To be a warrior's gallant page; 

Thou shalt be mine ! — a palfrey fair 

O'er hill and holt my boy shall bear, 

To hold my bow in hunting grove, 

Or speed on errand to my love; 

For well I wot thou wilt not tell 

The temple where my wishes dwell." 

XVII. 

Bruce interposed, — "Gay Edward, no, 

This is no youth to hold thy bow, 

To fill thy goblet, or to bear 

Thy message light to lighter fair. 

Thou art a patron all too wild 

And thoughtless, for this orphan child. 

See'st thou not how apart he steals, 

Keeps lonely couch, and lonely meals? 

Fitter by far in yon calm cell 

To tend our sister Isabel, 

With father Augustin to share 

The peaceful change of convent prayer, 






Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 131 

Than wander wild adventures through, 
With such a reckless guide as you." — 
" Thanks, brother ! " Edward answer'd gay, 
" For the high laud thy words convey ! 
But we may learn, some future day, 
If thou or I can this poor boy 
Protect the best, or best employ. 
Meanwhile, our vessel nears the strand ; 
Launch we the boat, and seek the land." 

XVIII. 

To land King Robert lightly sprung, 

And thrice aloud his bugle rung 

With note prolong'd and varied strain, 

Till bold Ben-ghoil replied again. 

Good Douglas then, and De la Haye, 

Had in a glen a hart at bay, 

And Lennox cheer'd the laggard hounds, 

When waked that horn the greenwood bounds. 

" It is the foe ! " cried Boyd, who came 

In breathless haste with eye on flame, — 

"It is the foe! — Each valiant lord 

Fling by his bow, and grasp his sword ! " — 

" Not so," replied the good Lord James, 

" That blast no English bugle claims. 

Oft have I heard it fire the fight, 

Cheer the pursuit, or stop the flight. 

Dead were my heart, and deaf mine ear, 

If Bruce should call, nor Douglas hear ! 

Each to Loch Ranza's margin spring; 

That blast was winded by the King ! " ■ 

1 The passage in Barbour, describing the landing of Bruce, and 



132 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 



XIX. 

Fast to their mates the tidings spread, 
And fast to shore the warriors sped. 



his being" recognised by Douglas and those of his followers who 
had preceded him, by the sound of his horn, is in the original 
singularly simple and affecting. — The king arrived in Arran with 
thirty-three small row-boats. He interrogated a female if there 
had arrived any warlike men of late in that country. " Surely, 
sir," she replied, " I can tell you of many who lately came hither, 
discomfited the English governor, and blockaded his castle of 
Brodick. They maintain themselves in a wood at no great dis- 
tance." The king, truly conceiving that this must be Douglas 
and his followers, who had lately set forth to try their fortune in 
Arran, desired the woman to conduct him to the wood. She 
obeyed. 

" The king then blew his horn on high ; 
And girt his men that were him by, 
Hold them still, and all privy : 
And syne again his home blew he. 
James of Dowglas heard him blow, 
And at the last alone gan know, 
And said, ' Soothly yon is the king ,* 
I know long while since his blowing.' 
The third time therevvithall he blew, 
And then Sir Robert Boid it knew ; 
And said, ' Yon is the king, but dread, 
Go we forth till him, better speed.' 
Then went they till the king in hye, 
And him inclined courteously. 
And blithly welcomed the king, 
And was joyful of their meeting, 
And kissed them ; and speared * syne 
How they had fared in hunting? 
And they him told all, but lesing : t 
Syne laud they God of their meeting. 
Syne with the king till his harbourye 
Went both joyfu' and jolly." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book v. p. 115, 116, 



* Asked. 



t Without lying. 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 133 

Bursting from glen and greenwood tree, 

High waked their loyal jubilee ! 

Around the royal Bruce they crowd, 

And clasp'd his hands, and wept aloud. 

Veterans of early fields were there, 

Whose helmets press'd their hoary hair, 

Whose swords and axes bore a stain 

From life-blood of the red-hair'd Dane ; 

And boys, whose hands scarce brook'd to wield 

The heavy sword or bossy shield. 

Men too were there, that bore the scars 

Impress'd in Albyn's woful wars, 

At Falkirk's fierce and fatal fight, 

Teyndrum's dread rout and Methven's flight. 

The might of Douglas there was seen, 

There Lennox with his graceful mien; 

Kirkpatrick, Closeburn's dreaded Knight; 

The Lindsay, fiery, fierce, and light; 

The Heir of murder'd De la Haye, 

And Boyd the grave, and Seton gay. 

Around their King regain'd they press'd, 

Wept, shouted, clasp'd him to their breast, 

And young and old, and serf and lord, 

And he who ne'er unsheathed a sword, 

And he in many a peril tried, 

Alike resolved the brunt to bide, 

And live or die by Bruce's side ! 

XX. 

Oh, War ! thou hast thy fierce delight, 
Thy gleams of joy, intensely bright! 
Such gleams, as from thy polish'd shield 
Fly dazzling o'er the battle-field ! 
Vol. V. 12 



134 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

Such transports wake, severe and high, 
Amid the pealing conquest-cry; 
Scarce less, when, after battle lost, 
Muster the remnants of a host, 
And as each comrade's name they tell, 
Who in the well-fought conflict fell, 
Knitting stern brow o'er flashing eye, 
Vow to avenge them or to die ! — 
Warriors ! — and where are warriors found, 
If not on martial Britain's ground ? 
And who, when waked with note of fire, 
Love more than they the British lyre ? — 
Know ye not, — hearts to honour dear! 
That joy, deep-thrilling, stern, severe, 
At which the heart-strings vibrate high, 
And wake the fountains of the eye? 1 
And blame ye, then, the Bruce, if trace 
Of tear is on his manly face, 
When, scanty relics of the train 
That hail'd at Scone his early reign, 
This patriot band around him hung, 
And to his knees and bosom clung ? — 
Blame ye the Bruce? — his brother blamed, 
But shared the weakness, while ashamed, 
With haughty laugh his head he turn'd, 
And dash'd away the tear he scorn'd. 2 

1 [" Ours are the tears, though few, sincerely shed, 
When Ocean shrouds and sepulchres our dead. 
For us, even banquets fond regret supply 
In the red cup that crowns our memory: 
And the brief epitaph in danger's day, 
When those who win at length divide the prey, 
And cry, Remembrance saddening o'er each brow, 
How had the brave who fell exulted now!" 

Boron's Corsair.] ,, 

a The kind, and yet fiery character of Edward Bruce, is well 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 135 

XXL 

'Tis morning, and the Convent bell 
Long time had ceased its matin knell 

Within thy walls, Saint Bride ! 
An aged Sister sought the cell 
Assign'd to Lady Isabel, 

And hurriedly she cried, 
"Haste, gentle Lady, haste — there waits 
A noble stranger at the gates; 
Saint Bride's poor vot'ress ne'er has seen 
A Knight of such a princely mien ; 

painted by Barbour, in the account of his behaviour after the battle 
of Bannockburn. Sir Walter Ross, one of the very few Scottish 
nobles who fell in that battle, was so dearly beloved by Edward, 
that he wished the victory had been lost, so Ross had lived. 

"Out-taken him, men has not seen 
Where he for any men made moaning.* 

And here the venerable Archdeacon intimates a piece of scandal. 
Sir Edward Bruce, it seems, loved Ross's sister, par amours, to 
the neglect of his own lady, sister to David de Strathbogie, Earl 
of Athole. This criminal passion had evil consequences ; for, in 
resentment of the affront done to his sister, Athole attacked the 
guard which Bruce had left at Cambuskenneth, during the battle 
of Bannockburn, to protect his magazine of provisions, and slew 
Sir William Keith, the commander. For which treason he was 
forfeited. 

In like manner, when in a sally from Carrickfergus, Neil Fle- 
ming, and the guards whom he commanded, had fallen, after the 
protracted resistance which saved the rest of Edward Bruce's 
army, he made such moan as surprised his followers: 

" Sic moan he made men had ferly,* * Wonder. 

For he was not customably 

Wont for to moan men any thing, 

Nor would not hear men make moaning." 

Such are the nice traits of character so often lost in general his- 
tory. 



136 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

His errand, as he bade me tell, 

Is with the Lady Isabel." 

The princess rose, — for on her knee 

Low bent she told her rosary, — 

" Let him by thee his purpose teach ; 

I may not give a stranger speech." — 

"Saint Bride forefend, thou royal Maid!" 

The portress cross'd herself, and said, — 

"Not to be prioress might I 

Debate his will, his suit deny." — 

" Has earthly show then, simple fool, 

Power o'er a sister of thy rule, 

And art thou, like the worldly train, 

Subdued by splendours light and vain?" — 

XXII. 

" No, Lady ! in old eyes like mine, 
Gauds have no glitter, gems no shine; 
Nor grace his rank attendants vain, 
One youthful page is all his train. 
It is the form, the eye, the word, 
The bearing of that stranger Lord; 
His stature, manly, bold, and tall, 
Built like a castle's battled wall, 
Yet moulded in such just degrees, 
His giant-strength seems lightsome ease. 
Close as the tendrils of the vine 
His locks upon his forehead twine, 
Jet-black, save where some touch of grey 
Has ta'en the youthful hue away. 
Weather and war their rougher trace 
Have left on that majestic face; — 
But 't is his dignity of eye ! 
There, if a suppliant, would I fly, 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 137 

Secure, 'mid danger, wrongs, and grief, 

Of sympathy, redress, relief — 

That glance, if guilty, would I dread 

More than the doom that spoke me dead ! " — 

" Enough, enough," the princess cried, 

"'Tis Scotland's hope, her joy, her pride! 

To meaner front was ne'er assign'd 

Such mastery o'er the common mind — 

Bestow'd thy high designs to aid, 

How long, O Heaven! how long delay'd! — 

Haste, Mona, haste, to introduce 

My darling brother, royal Bruce ! " 

XXIII. 

They met like friends who part in pain, 
And meet in doubtful hope again. 
But when subdued that fitful swell, 
The Bruce survey'd the humble cell; — 
"And this is thine, poor Isabel! — 
That pallet-couch, and naked wall, 
For room of state, and bed of pall; 
For costly robes and jewels rare, 
A string of beads and zone of hair ; 
And for the trumpet's sprightly call 
To sport or banquet, grove or hall, 
The bell's grim voice divides thy care, 
'Twixt hours of penitence and prayer! — 
O ill for thee, my royal claim 
From the First David's sainted name ! 
O woe for thee, that while he sought 
His right, thy brother feebly fought ! " — 
12* 



138 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

XXIV. 

tt Now lay these vain regrets aside, 

And be the unshaken Bruce ! " she cried. 

" For more I glory to have shared 

The woes thy venturous spirit dared, 

When raising first thy valiant band 

In rescue of thy native land, 

Than had fair Fortune set me down 

The partner of an empire's crown. 

And grieve not that on Pleasure's stream 

No more I drive in giddy dream, 

For Heaven the erring pilot knew, 

And from the gulf the vessel drew, 

Tried me with judgments stern and great, 

My house's ruin, thy defeat, 

Poor Nigel's death, till, tamed, I own, 

My hopes are fixed on Heaven alone; 

Nor e'er shall earthly prospects win 

My heart to this vain world of sin." — 

XXV. 

"Nay, Isabel, for such stern choice, 
First wilt thou wait thy brother's voice ; 
Then ponder if in convent scene 
No softer thoughts might intervene — 
Say they were of that unknown Knight, 
Victor in Woodstock's tourney-fight — 
Nay, if his name such blush you owe, 
Victorious o'er a fairer foe ! " 
Truly his penetrating eye 
Hath caught that blush's passing dye, — 
Like the last beam of evening thrown 
On a white cloud, — just seen and gone. 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 139 

Soon with calm cheek and steady eye, 

The princess made composed reply: — 

" I guess my brother's meaning well ; 

For not so silent is the cell, 

But we have heard the islesmen all 

Arm in thy cause at Ronald's call, 

And mine eye proves that Knight unknown 

And the brave Island Lord are one. — 

Had then his suit been earlier made, 

In his own name, with thee to aid, 

(But that his plighted faith forbade,) 

I know not . But thy page so near? — 

This is no tale for menial's ear." 

XXVI. 

Still stood that page, as far apart 
As the small cell would space afford; 

With dizzy eye and bursting heart, 
He leant his weight on Bruce's sword, 

The monarch's mantle too he bore, 

And drew the fold his visage o'er. 

<'Fear not for him — in murderous strife," 

Said Bruce, " his warning saved my life ; 

Full seldom parts he from my side, 

And In his silence I confide, 

Since he can tell no tale again. 

He is a boy of gentle strain, 

And I have purposed he shall dwell 

In Augustin the chaplain's cell, 

And wait on thee, my Isabel. — 

Mind not his tears; I've seen them flow, 

As in the thaw dissolves the snow. 






140 THE LORB OF THE ISLES. Canto IV 

*Tis a kind youth, but fanciful, 

Unfit against the tide to pull, 

And those that with the Bruce would sail, 

Must learn to strive with stream and gale. — 

But forward, gentle Isabel — 

My answer for Lord Ronald tell." — 

XXVII. 

" This answer be to Ronald given — 

The heart he asks is fix'd on heaven. 

My love was like a summer flower, 

That wither'd in the wintry hour, 

Born but of vanity and pride, 

And with these sunny visions died. 

If further press his suit — then say, 

He should his plighted troth obey, 

Troth plighted both with ring and word, 

And sworn on crucifix and sword. — 

Oh, shame thee, Robert ! I have seen 

Thou hast a woman's guardian been ! 

Even in extremity's dread hour, 

When press'd on thee the Southern power, 

And safety, to all human sight, 

Was only found in rapid flight, 

Thou heard'st a wretched female plain 

In agony of travail- pain, 

And thou didst bid thy little band 

Upon the instant turn and stand, 

And dare the worst the foe might do, 

Rather than, like a knight untrue, 

Leave to pursuers merciless 

A woman in her last distress. — l 

1 This incident, which illustrates so happily the chivalrous 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 141 

And wilt thou now deny thine aid 
To an oppress'd and injured maid, 
Even plead for Ronald's perfidy, 
And press his fickle faith on me? — 
So witness Heaven, as true I vow, 
Had I those earthly feelings now, 
Which could my former bosom move 
Ere taught to set its hopes above, 
I'd spurn each proffer he could bring, 
Till at my feet he laid the ring, 
The ring and spousal contract both, 
And fair acquittal of his oath, 

generosity of Bruce's character, is one of the many simple and 
natural traits recorded by Barbour. It occurred during the expe- 
dition which Bruce made to Ireland, to support the pretensions 
of his brother Edward to the throne of that kingdom. Bruce was 
about to retreat, and his host was arrayed for moving. 

"The king has heard a woman cry, 

He asked what that was in hyJ l Haste. 

* It is the layndar, 2 sir,' sai ane, 2 Laundress* 

*That her child- ill 3 right now has ta'en; 3 Child-bed* 

And must leave now behind us here. 

Therefore she makes an evil cheer/ * * Slop. 

The king said, 4 Certes, 5 it were pity * Certainly* 

That she in that point left should be- 

For certes I trow there is no man 

That he no will rue 6 a woman than; 6 Pity. 

His hosts all there arested he, 

And gert 7 a tent soon stintit 8 be, * Caused. e Pitched* 

And gert her gang in hastily, 

And other women to be her by. 

While she was delivered he bade; 

And syne forth on his ways rade. 

And how she forth should carried be, 

Or he forth fure, 9 ordained he- * Moved 

This was a full great courtesy, 

That swilk a king and so mighty, 

Gart his men dwell on this manner, 

But fox a poor lavender." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book xvi. pp. 39, 4k 






142 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV. 

By her who brooks his perjured scorn, 
The ill-requited Maid of Lorn!" 



XXVIII. 

With sudden impulse forward sprung 
The page, and on her neck he hung; 
Then, recollected instantly, 
His head he stoop'd, and bent his knee, 
Kiss'd twice the hand of Isabel, 
Arose, and sudden left the cell. — 
The princess, loosen'd from his hold, 
Blush'd angry at his bearing bold ; 

But good King Robert cried, 
" Chafe not — by signs he speaks his mind, 
He heard the plan my care design'd, 

Nor could his transports hide. — 
But, sister, now bethink thee well ; 
No easy choice the convent cell; 
Trust, I shall play no tyrant part, 
Either to force thy hand or heart, 
Or suffer that Lord Ronald scorn, 
Or wrong for thee, the Maid of Lorn. 
But think, — not long the time has been, 
That thou wert wont to sigh unseen, 
And wouldst the ditties best approve, 
That told some lay of hapless love. 
Now are thy wishes in thy power, 
And thou art bent on cloister bower! 
O! if our Edward knew the change, 
How would his busy satire range, 
With many a sarcasm varied still 
On woman's wish, and woman's will ! " — 



Canto IV. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 143 

XXIX. 

" Brother, I well believe," she said, 

" Even so would Edward's part be play'd. 

Kindly in heart, in word severe, 

A foe to thought, and grief, and fear, 

He holds his humour uncontrolPd ; 

But thou art of another mould. 

Say then to Ronald, as I say, 

Unless before my feet he lay 

The ring which bound the faith he swore, 

By Edith freely yielded o'er, 

He moves his suit to me no more. 

Nor do I promise, even if now 

He stood absolved of spousal vow, 

That I would change my purpose made, 

To shelter me In holy shade. — 

Brother, for little space, farewell ! 

To other duties warns the bell." — 

XXX. 

" Lost to the world," King Robert said, 

When he had left the royal maid, 

"Lost to the world by lot severe, 

O what a gem lies buried here, 

Nipp'd by misfortune's cruel frost, 

The buds of fair affection lost! — 

But what have I with love to do? 

Far sterner cares my lot pursue. 

— Pent in this isle we may not lie, 

Nor would it long our wants supply. 

Right opposite, the mainland towers 

Of my own Turnberry court our powers — 



144 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto IV 

— Might not my father's beadsman hoar, 

Cuthbert, who dwells upon the shore, 

Kindle a signal-flame, to show 

The time propitious for the blow] 

It shall be so — some friend shall bear 

Our mandate with despatch and care ; 

— Edward shall find the messenger. 

That fortress ours, the island fleet 

May on the coast of Carrick meet. — 

O Scotland ! shall it e'er be mine 

To wreak thy wrongs in battle-line, 

To raise my victor-head, and see 

Thy hills, thy dales, thy people free, — 

That glance of bliss is all I crave, 

Betwixt my labours and my grave!" 

Then down the hill he slowly went, 

Oft pausing on the steep descent, 

And reached the spot where his bold train 

Held rustic camp upon the plain. 



THE 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FIFTH. 






Vol. V. 13 



147 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO FIFTH. 



On fair Loch-Ranza streamed the early day, 
Thin wreaths of cottage-smoke are upward curlM 
From the lone hamlet, which her inland bay 
And circling mountains sever from the world. 
And there the fisherman his sail unfurl'd, 
The goat-herd drove his kids to steep Ben-Ghoil, 
Before the hut the dame her spindle twirPd, 
Courting the sunbeam as she plied her toil, — 
For, wake where'er he may, Man wakes to care and 
coil. 

But other duties calFd each convent maid, 
Roused by the summons of the moss-grown bell ; 
Sung were the matins, and the mass was said, 
And every sister sought her separate cell, 
Such was the rule, her rosary to tell. 
And Isabel has knelt in lonely prayer ; 
The sunbeam, through the narrow lattice, fell 
Upon the snowy neck and long dark hair, 
As stoopM her gentle head in meek devotion there. 

II. 

She raised her eyes, that duty done, 
When glanced upon the pavement-stone, 



148 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

Gemm'd and enchased, a golden ring, 
Bound to a scroll with silken string, 
With few brief words inscribed to tell, 
"This for the Lady Isabel." 
Within, the writing farther bore, — 
"'Twas with this ring his plight he swore, 
With this his promise I restore ; 
To her who can the heart command, 
Well may I yield the plighted hand. 
And O ! for better fortune born, 
Grudge not a passing sigh to mourn 
Her who was Edith once of Lorn ! " 
One single flash of glad surprise 
Just glanced from Isabel's dark eyes, 
But vanish'd in the blush of shame, 
That, as its penance, instant came. 
" O thought unworthy of my race ! 
Selfish, ungenerous, mean, and base, 
A moment's throb of joy to own, 
That rose upon her hopes overthrown! — 
Thou pledge of vows too well believed, 
Of man ingrate and maid deceived, 
Think not thy lustre here shall gain 
Another heart to hope in vain ! 
For thou shalt rest, thou tempting gaud, 
Where worldly thoughts are overawed, 
And worldly splendours sink debased." 
Then by the cross the ring she placed. 

III. 

Next rose the thought, — its owner far 

How came it here through bolt and bar? — 

But the dim lattice is ajar. — 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 149 

She looks abroad — the morning dew 
A light short step had brush'd anew, 

And there were foot-prints seen 
On the carved buttress rising still, 
Till on the mossy window-sill 

Their track effaced the green. 
The ivy twigs were torn and fray'd, 
As if some climber's steps to aid — 
But who the hardy messenger, 
Whose venturous path these signs infer? — 
* Strange doubts are mine! — Mona, draw nigh; 

— Nought 'scapes old Mona's curious eye — 
What strangers, gentle mother, say, 

Have sought these holy walls to-day?" — 
u None, Lady, none of note or name ; 
Only your brother's foot-page came, 
At peep of dawn — I pray'd him pass 
To chapel where they said the mass; 
But like an arrow he shot by, 
And tears seem'd bursting from his eye." 

IV. 

The truth at once on Isabel, 
As darted by a sunbeam, fell. — 
"'Tis Edith's self! — her speechless woe, 
Her form, her looks, the secret show! 

— Instant, good Mona, to the bay, 
And to my royal brother say, 

I do conjure him seek my cell, 
With that mute page he loves so well." — 
" What ! know'st thou not his warlike host 
At break of day has left our coast? 
13* 



150 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

My old eyes saw them from the tower. 

At eve they couch'd in greenwood bower, 

At dawn a bugle-signal, made 

By their bold Lord, their ranks array'd ; 

Up sprung the spears through bush and trc 

No time for benedicite ! 

Like deer, that, rousing from their lair, 

Just shake the dewdrops from their hair, 

And toss their armed crests aloft, 

Such matins theirs!" — "Good mother, soft — 

Where does my brother bend his way?" — 

" As I have heard, for Brodick-Bay, 

Across the isle — of barks a score 

Lie there, 'tis said, to waft them o'er, 

On sudden news, to Carrick-shore." — 

" If such their purpose, deep the need," 

Said anxious Isabel, " of speed ! 

Call Father Augustine, good dame." 

The nun obey'd, the Father came. 

V. 

" Kind Father, hie without delay, 
Across the hills to Brodick-Bay. 
This message to the Bruce be given ; 
I pray him, by his hopes of Heaven, 
That, till he speak with me, he stay ! 
Or, if his haste brook no delay, 
That he deliver, on my suit, 
Into thy charge that stripling mute. 
Thus prays his sister Isabel, 
For causes more than she may tell — 
Away, good father! — and take heed, 
That life and death are on thy speed." 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 151 

His cowl the good old priest did on, 
Took his piked staff and sandalPd shoon, 
And, like a palmer bent by eld, 
O'er moss and moor his journey held. 



VI. 

Heavy and dull the foot of age,- 

And rugged was the pilgrimage ; 

But none was there beside, whose care 

Might such important message bear. 

Through birchen copse he wander'd slow, 

Stunted and sapless, thin and low ; 

By many a mountain stream he pass'd, 

From the tall cliffs in tumult cast, 

Dashing to foam their waters dun, 

And sparkling in the summer sun. 

Round his grey head the wild curlew 

In many a fearless circle flew. 

O'er chasms he pass'd, where fractures wide 

Craved wary eye and ample stride; 1 

He cross'd his brow beside the stone, 

Where Druids erst heard victims groan, 

1 The interior of the island of Arran abounds with beautiful 
highland scenery. The hills, being very rocky and precipitous, 
afford some cataracts of great height, though of inconsiderable 
breadth. There is one pass ov^ji the river Machrai, renowned 
for the dilemma of a poor woman, who, being tempted by the 
narrowness of the ravine to step across, succeeded in making the 
first movement, but took fright when it became necessary to 
move the other foot, and remained in a posture equally ludicrous 
and dangerous, until some chance passenger assisted her to 
extricate herself. It is said she remained there some hours. 



152 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V 

And at the cairns upon the wild, 
O'er many a heathen hero piled, 1 
He breathed a timid prayer for those 
Who died ere Shiloh's sun arose. 
Beside Macfarlane's Cross he staid, 
There told his hours within the shade, 
And at the stream his thirst allay'd. 
Thence onward journeying slowly still, 
As evening closed he reach'd the hill, 
Where, rising through the woodland green, 
Old Brodick's gothic towers were seen. 
From Hastings, late their English lord, 
Douglas had won them by the sword. 2 



1 The isle of Arran, like those of Man and Anglesea, abounds 
with many relics of heathen, and probably Druidical, superstition. 
There are high erect columns of unhewn stone, the most early 
of all monuments, the circles of rude stones, commonly entitled 
Druidical, and the cairns, or sepulchral piles, within which are 
usually found urns enclosing ashes. Much doubt necessarily 
rests upon the history of such monuments, nor is it possible to 
consider them as exclusively Celtic, or Druidical. By much the 
finest circles of standing stones, excepting Stonehenge, are those 
of Stenhouse, at Stennis, in the island of Pomona, the principal 
isle of the Orcades. These, of course, are neither Celtic nor 
Druidical; and we are assured that many circles of the kind 
occur both in Sweden and Norway. 

2 Brodick or Brathwick Castle, in the Isle of Arran, is an 
ancient fortress, near an open roadstead called Brodick-Bay, and 
not far distant from a tolerable harbour, closed in by the island 
of Lamlash. This important place had been assailed a short 
time before Bruce's arrival in the island. James Lord Douglas, 
who accompanied Bruce to his retreat in Rachrine, seems, in the 
spring of 1306, to have tired of his abode there, and set out 
accordingly, in the phrase of the times, to see what adventure 
God would send him. Sir Robert Boyd accompanied him ; and 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 153 

The sun that sunk behind the isle, 
Now tinged them with a parting smile. 

VII. 

But though the beams of light decay, 
'T was bustle all in Brodick- Bay. 
The Bruce's followers crowd the shore, 
And boats and barges some unmoor, 
Some raise the sail, some seize the oar; 
Their eyes oft turn'd where glimmer'd far 
What might have seem'd an early star 
On heaven's blue arch, save that its light 
Was all too flickering, fierce, and bright. 

Far distant in the south, the ray 

Shone pale amid retiring day, 
But as, on Carrick shore, 

Dim seen in outline faintly blue, 

The shades of evening closer drew, 
It kindled more and more. 

his knowledge of the localities of Arran appears to have direct- 
ed his course thither. They landed in the island privately, and 
appear to have laid an ambush for Sir John Hastings, the Eng- 
lish governor of Brodwick, and surprised a considerable supply 
of arms and provisions, and nearly took the castle itself. Indeed, 
that they actually did so, has been generally averred by histori- 
ans, although it~does not appear from the narrative of Barbour. 
On the contrary, it would seem that they took shelter within a 
fortification of the ancient inhabitants, a rampart called Tor an 
Schian. When they were joined by Bruce, it seems probable 
that they had gained Brodick Castle. At least tradition says, 
that from tjie battlements of the tower he saw the supposed sig- 
nal-fire on Turnberry-nook. . . . The castle is now much mod- 
ernized, but has a dignified appearance, being surrounded by 
flourishing plantations. 



154 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

The monk's slow steps now press the sands, 
And now amid a scene he stands, 

Full strange to churchman's eye; 
Warriors, who, arming for the fight, 
Rivet and clasp their harness light, 
And twinkling spears, and axes bright, 
And helmets flashing high. 
Oft, too, with unaccustom'd ears, 
A language much unmeet he hears, 1 

While, hastening all on board, 
As stormy as the swelling surge 
That mix'd its roar, the leaders urge 
Their followers to the ocean verge, 
With many a haughty word. 

VIII. 
Through that wild throng the Father pass'd, 
And reach'd the Royal Bruce at last. 
He leant against a stranded boat, 
That the approaching tide must float, 

1 Barbour, with great simplicity, gives an anecdote, from which 
it would seem that the vice of profane swearing, afterwards too 
general among the Scottish nation, was, at this time, confined to 
military men. As Douglas, after Bruce' s return to Scotland, was 
roving about the mountainous country of Tweeddale, near f. 
water of Line, he chanced to hear some persons in a farm-h« 
say " the devil" Concluding, from this hardy expression, mat 
the house contained warlike guests, he immediately assailed it, 
and had the good fortune to make prisoners Thomas Randolph, 
afterwards the famous Earl of Murray, and Alexander Stuart, 
Lord Bonkle. Both were then in the English interest, and had 
come into that country with the purpose of driving out Doug- 
las. They afterwards ranked among Bruce's most zealous adhe- 
rents. 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 155 

And counted every rippling wave, 

As higher yet her sides they lave, 

And oft the distant fire he eyed, 

And closer yet his hauberk tied, 

And loosen'd in its sheath his bra^d. 

Edward and Lennox w r ere at hand, 

Douglas and Ronald had the care 

The soldiers to the barks to share. — 

The Monk approach'd and homage paid; 

"And art thou come," King Robert said, 

"So far to bless us ere we part?" — 

— " My Liege, and with a loyal heart ! — 

But other charge I have to tell," — 

And spoke the hest of Isabel. 

— "Now by Saint Giles," the monarch cried, 

"This moves me much! — this morning tide, 

I sent the stripling to Saint Bride, 

With my commandment there to bide." — 

— "Thither he came the portress show'd, 

But there, my Liege, made brief abode." — 

IX. 

"'Twas I," said Edward, "found employ 

Of nobler import for the boy. 

Deep pondering in my anxious mind, 

A fitting messenger to find, 

To bear thy written mandate o'er 

To Cuthbert on the Carrick shore, 

I chanced, at early dawn, to pass 

The chapel gate to snatch a mass. 

I found the stripling on a tomb 

Low-seated, weeping for the doom 

That gave his youth to convent gloom. 



156 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

I told my purpose, and his eyes 
Flash'd joyful at the glad surprise. 
He bounded to the skiff, the sail 
Was spread before a prosperous gale, 
And well my charge he hath obeyed ; 
For, see ! the ruddy signal made, 
That Clifford, with his merry-men all, 
Guards carelessly our father's hall." 1 



" O wild of thought, and hard of heart ! " 

Answer'd the Monarch, " on a part 

Of such deep danger to employ 

A mute, an orphan, and a boy ! 

Unfit for flight, unfit for strife, 

Without a tongue to plead for life ! 

Now, were my right restored by Heaven, 

Edward, my crown I would have given, 

Ere, thrust on such adventure wild, 

I periPd thus the helpless child."— 

— Offended half, and half sub miss, 

" Brother and Liege, of blame like this," 

Edward replied, " I little dream'd. 

A stranger messenger, I deem'd, 

Might safest seek the beadsman's cell, 

Where all thy squires are known so well. 

Noteless his presence, sharp his sense, 

His imperfection his defence. 

If seen, none can his errand guess; 

If ta'en, no words his tale express — 

1 [See Appendix, Note Q.] 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 157 

Methinks, too, yonder beacon's shine 

Might expiate greater fault than mine." — 

"Rash," said King Robert, "was the deed — 

But it is done. — Embark with speed! — 

Good Father, say to Isabel 

How this unhappy chance befell; 

If well we thrive on yonder shore, 

Soon shall my care her page restore. 

Our greeting to our sister bear, 

And think of us in mass and prayer." — 

XL 

" Ay ! " said the Priest, — " while this poor hand 
Can chalice raise or cross command, 
While my old voice has accents'- use, 
Can Augustine forget the Bruce!" 
Then to his side Lord Ronald press'd, 
And whispered, " Bear thou this request, 
That when by Bruce's side I fight, 
For Scotland's crown and freedom's right, 
The princess grace her knight to bear 
Some token of her favouring care ; 
It shall be shown where England's best 
May shrink to see it on my crest. 
And for the boy — since weightier care 
For royal Bruce the times prepare, 
The helpless youth is Ronald's charge, 
His couch my plaid, his fence my targe." 
He ceased; for many an eager hand 
Had urged the barges from the strand. 
Their number was a score and ten, 
They bore thrice threescore chosen men. 
Vol. V. 14 



158 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

With such small force did Bruce at last 
The die for death or empire cast! 

XII. 

Now on the darkening main afloat, 

Ready and mann'd rocks every boat; 

Beneath their oars the ocean's might 

Was dash'd to sparks of glimmering light. 

Faint and more faint, as off they bore, 

Their armour glanced against the shore, 

And, mingled with the dashing tide, 

Their murmuring voices distant died. — 

" God speed them ! " said the Priest, as dark 

On distant billows glides each bark; 

" O Heaven ! when swords for freedom shine, 

And monarch's right, the cause is thine ! 

Edge doubly every patriot blow ! 

Beat down the banners of the foe! 

And be it to the nations known, 

That Victory is from God alone ! " 

As up the hill his path he drew, 

He turn'd his blessings to renew, 

Oft turn'd, till on the darken'd coast 

All traces of their course were lost; 

Then slowly bent to Brodick tower, 

To shelter for the evening hour. 

XIII. 

In night the fairy prospects sink, 
Where Cumray's isles with verdant link 
Close the fair entrance of the Clyde ; 
The woods of Bute, no more descried, 
Are gone — and on the placid sea 
The rowers ply their task with glee, 



! 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 159 

While hands that knightly lances bore 
Impatient aid the labouring oar. 
The half-faced moon shone dim and pale, 
And glanced against the whiten'd sail ; 
But on that ruddy beacon-light 
Each steersman kept the helm aright, 
And oft, for such the King's command, 
That all at once might reach the strand, 
From boat to boat loud shout and hail 
Warn'd them to crowd or slacken sail. 
South and by west the armada bore, 
And near at length the Carrick shore. 
As less and less the distance grows, 
High and more high the beacon rose; 
The light, that seem'd a twinkling star, 
Now blazed portentous, fierce, and far. 
Dark-red the heaven above it glow'd, 
Dark-red the sea beneath it flow'd, 
Red rose the rocks on ocean's brim, 
In blood-red light her islets swim; 
Wild scream the dazzled sea-fowl gave, 
Dropp'd from their crags on plashing wave. 
The deer to distant covert drew, 
The black-cock deem'd it day, and crew. 
Like some tall castle given to flame, 
O'er half the land the lustre came. 
"Now, good my Liege, and brother sage, 
What think ye of mine elfin page?" — 
"Row on!" the noble King replied, 
" We '11 learn the truth whate'er betide ; 
Yet sure the beadsman and the child 
Could ne'er have waked that beacon wild." 



160 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

XIV. 

With that the boats approach'd the land, 

But Edward's grounded on the sand; 

The eager knight leap'd in the sea 

Waist-deep, and first on shore was he, 

Though every barge's hardy band 

Contended which should gain the land, 

When that strange light, which, seen afar, 

Seem'd steady as the polar star, 

Now, like a prophet's fiery chair, 

Seem'd travelling the realms of air. 

Wide o'er the sky the splendour glows, 

As that portentous meteor rose ; 

Helm, axe, and falchion glitter'd bright, 

And in the red and dusky light 

His comrade's face each warrior saw, 

Nor marvell'd it was pale with awe. 

Then high in air the beams were lost, 

And darkness sunk upon the coast. — 

Ronald to Heaven a prayer address'd, 

And Douglas cross'd his dauntless breast ; 

" Saint James protect us ! " Lennox cried, 

But reckless Edward spoke aside, 

" Deem'st thou, Kirkpatrick, in that flame 

Red Comyn's angry spirit came, 

Or would thy dauntless heart endure 

Once more to make assurance sure?" — 

" Hush ! " said the Bruce ; " we soon shall know, 

If this be sorcerer's empty show, 

Or stratagem of Southern foe. 

The moon shines out — upon the sand 

Let every leader rank his band." 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 161 

XV. 

Faintly the moon's pale beams supply- 
That ruddy light's unnatural dye; 
The dubious cold reflection lay 
On the wet sands and quiet bay. 
Beneath the rocks King Robert drew 
His scatter'd files to order due, 
Till shield compact and serried spear 
In the cool light shone blue and clear. 
Then down a path that sought the tide, 
That speechless page was seen to glide; 
He knelt him lowly on the sand, 
And gave a scroll to Robert's hand. 
"A torch," the Monarch cried, "What, ho! 
Now shall we Cuthbert's tidings know." 
But evil news the tidings bare, 
The Clifford's force was strong and ware, 
Augmented, too, that very morn, 
By mountaineers who came with Lorn. 
Long harrow'd by oppressor's hand, 
Courage and faith had fled the land, 
And over Carrick, dark and deep, 
Had sunk dejection's iron sleep. — 
Cuthbert had seen that beacon-flame, 
Unwitting from what source it came. 
Doubtful of perilous event, 
Edward's mute messenger he sent, 
If Bruce deceived should venture o'er, 
To warn him from the fatal shore. 

XVI. 
As round the torch tne leaders crowd, 
Bruce read these chilling news aloud. 
14* 



162 THE LORD OP THE ISLES. Canto V. 

"What council, nobles, have we now? — 

To ambush us in greenwood bough, 

And take the chance which fate may send 

To bring our enterprise to end, 

Or shall we turn us to the main 

As exiles, and embark again 1 " — 

Answer'd fierce Edward, " Hap what may, 

In Carrick, Carrick's Lord must stay. 

I would not minstrels told the tale, 

Wildfire or meteor made us quail." 

Answer'd the Douglas, " If my liege 

May win yon w T alls by storm or siege, 

Then w r ere each brave and patriot heart 

Kindled of new for loyal part." — 

Answer'd Lord Ronald, " Not for shame 

Would I that aged Torquil came, 

And found, for all our empty boast, 

Without a blow we fled the coast. 

I will not credit that this land, 

So famed for warlike heart and hand, 

The nurse of Wallace and of Bruce, 

Will long with tyrants hold a truce." — 

"Prove we our fate — the brunt we'll bide!" 

So Boyd and Haye and Lennox cried ; 

So said, so vow'd, the leaders all; 

So Bruce resolved : " And in my hall 

Since the bold Southern make their home, 

The hour of payment soon shall come, 

When with a rough and rugged host 

Clifford may reckon to his cost. 

Meantime, through well-known bosk and dell, 

I'll lead where we may shelter well." 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 163 

XVII. 

Now ask you whence that wondrous light, 

Whose fairy glow beguiled their sight? — 

It ne'er was known 1 — yet grey-hair'd eld 

A superstitious credence held, 

That never did a mortal hand 

Wake its broad glare on Carrick strand; 

^he following are the words of an ingenious correspondent, 
to whom I am obliged for much information respecting Turnberry 
and its neighbourhood. " The only tradition now remembered 
of the landing of Robert the Bruce in Carrick, relates to the fire 
seen by him from the Isle of Arr an. It is still generally reported, 
and religiously believed by many, that this fire was really the 
work of supernatural power, unassisted by the hand of any mor- 
tal being ; and it is said, that, for several centuries, the flame 
rose yearly on the same hour of the same night of the year, on 
which the king first saw it from the turrets of Brodick castle ; 
and some go so far as to say, that if the exact time were known, 
it would be still seen. That this superstitious notion is very 
ancient, is evident from the place where the fire is said to have 
appeared, being called the Bogles' Brae, beyond the remembrance 
of man. In support of this curious belief, it is said that the 
practice of burning heath for the improvement of land was then 
unknown ; that a spunkie (Jack o'lanthorn) could not have been 
seen across the breadth of the Forth of Clyde, between Ayrshire 
and Arran ; and that the courier of Bruce was his kinsman, and 
never suspected of treachery." — Letter from Mr. Joseph Train, 
of Newton Stuart, author of an ingenious Collection of Poems, 
illustrative of many ancient Traditions in Galloway and Ayr- 
shire, Edinburgh, 1814. [Mr. Train made a journey into Ayr- 
shire at Sir Walter Scott's request, on purpose to collect accu- 
rate information for the Notes to this poem ; and the reader will 
find more of the fruits of his labours in the Appendix, Note R. 
This is the same gentleman whose friendly assistance is so often 
acknowledged in the Notes and Introductions of the Waverley 
Novels.] 



164 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

Nay, and that on the self-same night 

When Bruce cross'd o'er, still gleams the light. 

Yearly it gleams o'er mount and moor, 

And glittering wave and crimson'd shore — 

But whether beam celestial, lent 

By Heaven to aid the King's descent, 

Or fire hell-kindled from beneath, 

To lure him to defeat and death, 

Or were it but some meteor strange, 

Of such as oft through midnight range. 

Startling the traveller late and lone, 

I know not — and it ne'er was known. 

XVIII. 

Now up the rocky pass they drew, 
And Ronald, to his promise true, 
Still made his arm the stripling's stay, 
To aid him on the rugged way. 
" Now cheer thee, simple Amadine ! 
Why throbs that silly heart of thine?" — 

— That name the pirates to their slave 
(In Gaelic 'tis the Changeling) gave — 
" Dost thou not rest thee on my arm ? 
Do not my plaid-folds hold thee warm ? 
Hath not the wild bull's treble hide 
This targe for thee and me supplied? 
Is not Clan-Colla's sword of steel? 
And, trembler, canst thou terror feel? 
Cheer thee, and still that throbbing heart; 
From Ronald's guard thou shalt not part." 

— O ! many a shaft, at random sent, 
Finds mark the archer little meant ! 



Canto V, THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 165 

And many a word, at random spoken, 

May soothe or wound a heart that 's. broken ! 

Half soothed, half grieved, half terrified, 

Close drew the page to Ronald's side; 

A wild delirious thrill of joy 

Was in that hour of agony, 

As up the steepy pass he strove, 

Fear, toil, and sorrow, lost in love ! 

XIX. 

The barrier of that iron shore, 

The rock's steep ledge, is now climb'd o'er ; 

And from the castle's distant wall, 

From tower to tower the warders call: 

The sound swings over land and sea, 

And marks a watchful enemy. — 

They gain'd the Chase, a wide domain 

Left for the Castle's sylvan reign, 

(Seek not the scene — the axe, the plough, 

The boor's dull fence, have marr'd it now,) 1 

1 The Castle of Turnberry, on the coast of Ayrshire, was the 
property of Robert Bruce, in right of his mother. Lord Hailes 
mentions the following remarkable circumstance concerning the 
mode in which he became proprietor of it : — " Martha, Countess 
of Carrick in her own right, the wife of Robert Bruce, Lord of 
Annandale, bare him a son, afterwards Robert I. (11th July, 
1274.) The circumstances of her marriage were singular: hap- 
pening to meet Robert Bruce in her domains, she became 
enamoured of him, and with some violence led him to her castle 
of Turnberry. A few days after she married him, without the 
knowledge of the relations of either party, and without the 
requisite consent of the king. The king instantly seized her 
castle and whole estates. She afterwards atoned by a fine for 
her feudal delinquency. Little did Alexander foresee, that, from 



166 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

But then, soft swept in velvet green 
The plain with many a glade between, 
Whose tangled alleys far invade 
The depth of the brown forest shade. 
Here the tall fern obscured the lawn, 
Fair shelter for the sportive fawn ; 
There, tufted close with copse wood green, 
Was many a swelling hillock seen; 

this union, the restorer of the Scottisn monarcny was to arise." — 
Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 180. The same obliging corres- 
pondent, whom I have quoted in the preceding note, gives me 
the following account of the present state of the ruins of Turn- 
berry : — " Turnberry Point is a rock projecting into the sea ; the 
top of it is about eighteen feet above high- water mark. Upon 
this rock was built the castle. There is about twenty-five feet 
high of the wall next to the sea yet standing. Upon the land- 
side the wall is only about four feet high ; the length has been 
sixty feet, and the breadth forty-five. It was surrounded by a 
ditch, but that is now nearly filled up. The top of the ruin, 
rising between forty and fifty feet above the water, has a majestic 
appearance from the sea. There is not much local tradition in 
the vicinity connected with Bruce or his history. In front, 
however, of the rock, upon which stands Culzean Castle, is the 
mouth of a romantic cavern, called the Cove of Colean, in which 
it is said Bruce and his followers concealed themselves immedi- 
ately after landing, till they arranged matters for their farther 
enterprises. Burns mentions it in the poem of Hallowe'en. The 
only place to the south of Turnberry worth mentioning, with 
reference to Bruce's history, is the Weary Nuik, a little romantic 
green hill, where he and his party are said to have rested, after 
assaulting the castle." 

Around the Castle of Turnberry was a level plain of about 
two miles in extent, forming the castle park. There could be 
nothing, I am informed, more beautiful than the copsewood and 
verdure of this extensive meadow, before it was invaded by the 
ploughshare. 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 167 

And all around was verdure meet 
For pressure of the fairies' feet. 
The glossy holly loved the park, 
The yew-tree lent its shadow dark, 
And many an old oak, worn and bare, 
With all its shiver'd boughs, was there. 
Lovely between, the moonbeams fell 
On lawn and hillock, glade and dell. 
The gallant Monarch sigh'd to see 
These glades so loved in childhood free, 
Bethinking that, as outlaw now, 
He ranged beneath the forest bough. 

XX. 

Fast o'er the moonlight Chase they sped. 
Well knew the band that measured tread, 
When, in retreat or in advance, 
The serried warriors move at once ; 
And evil were the luck, if dawn 
Descried them on the open lawn. 
Copses they traverse, brooks they cross, 
Strain up the bank and o'er the moss. 
From the exhausted page's brow 
Cold drops of toil are streaming now; 
With effort faint and lengthen'd pause, 
His weary step the stripling draws. 
" Nay, droop not yet ! " the warrior said ; 
" Come, let me give thee ease and aid ! 
Strong are mine arms, and little care 
A weight so slight as thine to bear. — 
What! wilt thou not? — capricious boy! — 
Then thine own limbs and strength employ. 
Pass but this night, and pass thy care, 
I'll place thee with a lady fair, 



168 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

Where thou shalt tune thy lute to tell 
How Ronald loves fair Isabel ! " 
Worn out, dishearten'd, and dismay'd, 
Here Amadine let go the plaid; 
His trembling limbs their aid refuse, 
He sunk among the midnight dews! 

XXL 

What may be done?— the night is gone — 

The Bruce's band moves swiftly on — 

Eternal shame, if at the brunt 

Lord Ronald grace not battle's front ! — 

" See yonder oak, within whose trunk 

Decay a darken'd cell hath sunk ; 

Enter, and rest thee there a space, 

Wrap in my plaid thy limbs, thy face. 

I will not be, believe me, far ; 

But must not quit the ranks of war. 

Well will I mark the bosky bourne, 

And soon, to guard thee hence, return. — 

Nay, weep not so, thou simple boy ! 

But sleep in peace, and wake in joy." 

In sylvan lodging close bestow'd, 

He placed the page, and onward strode 

With strength put forth, o'er moss and brook, 

And soon the marching band o'ertook. 

XXII. 

Thus strangely left, long sobb'd and wept 
The page, till, wearied out, he slept — 
A rough voice waked his dream — "Nay, here, 
Here by this thicket, pass'd the deer — 






Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 169 

Beneath that oak old Ryno staid — 
What have we here? — a Scottish plaid, 
And in its folds a "stripling laid? — 
Come forth! thy name and business tell! — 
What, silent ? — then I guess thee well, 
The spy that sought old Cuthbert's cell, 
Wafted from Arran yester morn — 
Come, comrades, we will straight return. 
Our Lord may choose the rack should teach 
To this young lurcher use of speech. 
Thy bow-string, till I bind him fast." — 
" Nay, but he weeps and stands aghast ; 
Unbound we '11 lead him, fear it not ; 
'Tis a fair stripling, though a Scot." 
The hunters to the castle sped, 
And there the hapless captive led. 

XXIII. 

Stout Clifford in the castle-court 
Prepared him for the morning sport; 
And now with Lorn held deep discourse, 
Now gave command for hound and horse. 
War-steeds and palfreys paw'd the ground, 
And many a deer-dog howl'd around. 
To Amadine, Lorn's well-known word 
Replying to that Southern Lord, 
Mix'd with this clanging din, might seem 
The phantasm of a fever'd dream. 
The tone upon his ringing ears 
Came like the sounds which fancy hears, 
When in rude waves or roaring winds 
Some words of woe the muser finds, 
Vol. V. 15 



170 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

Until more loudly and more near, 
Their speech arrests the page's ear. 

XXIV. 

" And was she thus," said Clifford, " lost 1 

The priest should rue it to his cost ! 

What says the monk f "— " The holy Sire 

Owns, that in masquer's quaint attire, 

She sought his skiff, disguised, unknown 

To all except to him alone. 

But, says the priest, a bark from Lorn 

Laid them aboard that very morn, 

And pirates seized her for their prey. 

He proffer'd ransom-gold to pay, 

And they agreed — but ere told o'er, 

The winds blow loud, the billows roar; 

They sever'd, and they met no more. 

He deems — such tempest vex'd the coast — 

Ship, crew, and fugitive, were lost. 

So let it be, with the disgrace 

And scandal of her lofty race ! 

Thrice better she had ne'er been born, 

Than brought her infamy on Lorn ! " 

XXV. 
Lord Clifford now the captive spied ; — 
" Whom, Herbert, hast thou there ? " he cried, 
" A spy we seized within the Chase, 
A hollow oak his lurking place." — 
"What tidings can the youth afford?" — 
" He plays the mute." — " Then noose a cord — 
Unless brave Lorn reverse the doom 
For his plaid's sake." — " Clan-Colla's loom," 



Canto V. THE LOUD OF THE ISLES. 171 

Said Lorn, whose careless glances trace 
Rather the vesture than the face, 
" Clan-Colla's dames such tartans twine; 
Wearer nor plaid claim care of mine. 
Give him, if my advice you crave, 
His own scathed oak ; and let him wave 
In air, unless, by terror wrung, 
A frank confession find his tongue. — 
Nor shall he die without his rite ; 
— Thou, Angus Roy, attend the sight, 
And give Clan-Colla's dirge thy breath, 
As they convey him to his death." — 
" O brother ! cruel to the last I " 
Through the poor captive's bosom pass'd 
The thought, but, to his purpose true, 
He said not, though he sigh'd, " Adieu I " 

XXVI. 

And will he keep his purpose still, 

In sight of that last closing ill, 

When one poor breath, one single word, 

May freedom, safety, life, afford ? 

Can he resist the instinctive call, 

For life that bids us barter all? — 

Love, strong as death, his heart hath steePcf, 

His nerves hath strung — he will not yield I 

Since that poor breath, that little word, 

May yield Lord Ronald to the sword. — 

Clan-Colla's dirge is pealing wide, 

The grisly headsman's by his side ; 

Along the greenwood Chase they bend, 

And now their march has ghastly end! 

That old and shatter'd oak beneath, 

They destine for the place of death. 



172 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V 

— What thoughts are his, while all in vain 
His eye for aid explores the plain? 

What thoughts, while, with a dizzy ear, 
He hears the death-prayer mutter'd near? 
And must he die such death accurst, 
Or will that bosom-secret burst? 
Cold on his brow breaks terror's dew, 
His trembling lips are livid blue ; 
The agony of parting life 
Has nought to match that moment's strife 

XXVII. 

But other witnesses are nigh, 

Who mock at fear, and death defy! 

Soon as the dire lament was play'd, 

It waked the lurking ambuscade. 

The Island Lord look'd forth, and spied 

The cause, and loud in fury cried, 

" By Heaven they lead the page to die, 

And mock me in his agony! 

They shall abye it!" — On his arm 

Bruce laid strong grasp, " They shall not harm 

A ringlet of the stripling's hair ; 

But, till I give the word, forbear. 

— Douglas, lead fifty of our force 
Up yonder hollow water-course, 

And couch thee midway on the wold, 
Betw T een the flyers and their hold: 
A spear above the copse display'd, 
Be signal of the ambush made. 
— Edward, with forty spearmen, straight 
Through yonder copse approach the gate, 
And, when thou hear'st the battle-din, 
Rush forward, and the passage win, 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 173 

Secure the drawbridge — storm the port, 
And man and guard the castle-court. — 
The rest move slowly forth with me, 
In shelter of the forest-tree, 
Till Douglas at his post I see." 

XXVIII. 

Like war-horse eager to rush on, 
CompelPd to wait the signal blown, 
Hid, and scarce hid, by greenwood bough, 
Trembling with rage, stands Ronald now, 
And in his grasp his sword gleams blue, 
Soon to be dyed with deadlier hue. — 
Meanwhile the Bruce, with steady eye, 
Sees the dark death-train moving by, 
And heedful measures oft the space, 
The Douglas and his band must trace, 
Ere they can reach their destined ground. 
Now sinks the dirge's wailing sound, 
Now cluster round the direful tree 
That slow and solemn company, 
While hymn mistuned and mutter'd prayer 
The victim for his fate prepare. — 
What glances o'er the greenwood shade T 
The spear that marks the ambuscade ! — 
"Now, noble Chief! I leave thee loose; 
Upon them, Ronald ! " said the Bruce. 

XXIX. 

"The Bruce, the Bruce!" to well-known cry 
His native rocks and woods reply. 
" The Bruce, the Bruce ! " in that dread word 
The knell of hundred deaths was heard. 
15* 



174 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto V. 

The astonished Southern gazed at first, 
Where the wild tempest was to burst, 
That waked in that presaging name. 
Before, behind, around it came ! 
Half-arm'd, surprised, on every side 
Hemm'd in, hew'd down, they bled and died. 
Deep in the ring the Bruce engaged, 
And fierce Clan-Colla's broadsword raged ! 
Full soon the few who fought were sped, 
Nor better was their lot who fled, 
And met, 'mid terror's wild career, 
The Douglas's redoubted spear ! 
Two hundred yeomen on that morn 
The castle left, and none return. 

XXX. 

Not on their flight press'd Ronald's brand, 
A gentler duty claim'd his hand. 
He raised the page, where on the plain 
His fear had sunk him with the slain: 
And twice, that morn, surprise well near 
Betray'd the secret kept by fear; 
Once, when, with life returning, came 
To the boy's lip Lord Ronald's name, 
And hardly recollection drown'd 
The accents in a murmuring sound; 
And once, when scarce he could resist 
The Chieftain's care to loose the vest, 
Drawn tightly o'er his labouring breast. 
But then the Bruce's bugle blew, 
For martial work was yet to do. 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 175 

XXXI. 

A harder task fierce Edward waits. 
Ere signal given, the castle gates 

His fury had assaiPd; 
Such was his wonted reckless mood, 
Yet desperate valour oft made good, 
Even by its daring, venture rude, 

Where prudence might have fail'd. 
Upon the bridge his strength he threw, 
And struck the iron chain in two, 

By which its planks arose; 
The warder next his axe's edge 
Struck down upon the threshold ledge, 
^Twixt door and post a ghastly wedge \ 

The gate they may not close. 
Well fought the Southern in the fray, 
Clifford and Lorn fought well that day, 
But stubborn Edward forced his way 

Against a hundred foes. 
Loud came the cry, "The Bruce, the Bruce!" 
No hope or in defence or truce, 

Fresh combatants pour in; 
Mad with success, and drunk with gore, 
They drive the struggling foe before 

And ward on ward they win. 
Unsparing was the vengeful sword, 
And limbs were lopp'd and life-blood pour'd, 
The cry of death and conflict roar'd, 

And fearful was the din ! 
The startling horses plunged and flung, 
Clamour'd the dogs till turrets rung 

Nor sunk the fearful cry, 



176 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto TV 

Till not a foeman was there found 
Alive, save those who on the ground 
Groan'd in their agony ! l 

XXXII. 

The valiant Clifford is no more; 2 

On Ronald's broadsword streamed his gore, 

But better hap had he of Lorn f 

Who, by the foemen backward borne. 

Yet gain'd with slender train the port> 

Where lay his bark beneath the forty 

And cut the cable loose. 
Short were his shrift in that debate, 
That hour of fury and of hate, 

If Lorn encountered Bruce ! 
Then long and loud the victor shout 
From turret and from tower rung out r 

The rugged vaults replied ; 
And from the donjon tower on high, 
The men of Carrick may descry 
Saint Andrew's cross, in blazonry 

Of silver, waving wide \ 

1 [The concluding stanza of " Tire Siege of Corinth" contain* 
an obvious, though, no doubt, an unconscious imitation of the pre- 
ceding nine lines, magnificently expanded through an extent of 
about thirty couplets : — 

"All the living things that heard 
That deadly earth-shock disappear'd ; 
The wild birds flew; the wild dogs fleri\ 
And howling left the unburied dead ; 
The camels from their keepers broke; 
The distant steer forsook the yoke — 
The nearer steed plunged o'er the plain, 
And burst his girth, and tore his rein," &c] 

• [In point of fact, Clifford fell at Bannockburn.] 



' 



Canto V, THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 177 

XXXIII. 

The Bruce hath won his father's hall! 1 

— " Welcome, brave friends and comrades all, 

Welcome to mirth and joy ! 
The first, the last, is welcome here, 
From lord and chieftain, prince and peer, 

To this poor speechless boy. 
Great God ! once more my sire's abode 
Is mine — behold the floor I trode 

In tottering infancy ! 
And there the vaulted arch, whose sound 
Echoed my joyous shout and bound 
In boyhood, and that rung around 

To youth's unthinking glee ! 

first, to thee, all-gracious Heaven, 

Then to my friends, my thanks be given!" — 
He paused a space, his brow he cross'd — 
Then on the board his sword he toss'd, 
Yet steaming hot ; with Southern gore 
From hilt to point 'twas crimson'd o'er, 

XXXIV. 

" Bring here," he said, " the mazers four, 
My noble fathers loved of yore. 2 
Thrice let them circle round the board, 
The pledge, fair Scotland's rights restored \ 
And he whose lip shall touch the wine, 
Without a vow as true as mine, 
To hold both lands and life at nought, 
Until her freedom shall be bought, — 

1 [See Appendix, Note IL 2 [See Appendix, Note S.] 



178 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto V. 

Be brand of a disloyal Scot, 
And lasting infamy his lot! 
Sit, gentle friends ! our hour of glee 
Is brief, we '11 spend it joyously ! 
Blithest of all the sun's bright beams, 
When betwixt storm and storm he gleams. 
Well is our country's work begun, 
But more y far more, must yet be done* 
Speed messengers the country through ; 
Arouse old friends, and gather new ; l 
Warn Lanark's knights to gird their mail, 
Rouse the brave sons of Teviotdale, 
Let Ettrick's archer sharp their darts, 
The fairest forms, the truest hearts! 2 

r As soon as it was known in Kyle, says ancient tradition, thai 
Robert Bruce had landed in Carrick, with the intention of recov- 
ering the crown of Scotland, the Laird of Craigie, and forty- 
eight men in his immediate neighbourhood, declared in favour 
of their legitimate prince. Bruce granted them a tract of land, 
still retained by the freemen of Newton to this day. The original 
charter was lost when the pestilence was raging at Ayr ; but it 
was renewed by one of the Jameses, and is dated at Faulkland. 
The freemen of Newton were formerly officers by rotation. The 
Provost of Ayr at one time was a freeman of Newton, and it 
happened to be his turn, while provost in Ayr, to be officer in 
Newton, both of which offices he discharged at the same time. 

8 The forest of Selkirk,, or Ettrick, at this period, occupied alt 
the district which retains that denomination, and embraced the 
neighbouring dales of Tweeddale, and at least the Upper Ward 
of Clydesdale. All that tract was probably as waste as it is 
mountainous, and covered with the remains of the ancient Cale- 
donian Forest, which is supposed to have stretched from Cheviot 
Hills as far as Hamilton, and to have comprehended even a part 
of Ayrshire. At the fatal battle of Falkirk, Sir John Stewart 
of Bonkill, brother to the Steward of Scotland, commanded the 



Canto V. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 179 

Call all, call all ! from Reedswair-Path, 
To the wild confines of Cape- Wrath ; 
Wide let the news through Scotland ring, 
The Northern Eagle claps his wing ! " 

archers of Selkirk Forest, who fell around the dead body of their 
leader. The English historians have commemorated the tall and 
stately persons, as well as the unswerving faith, of these forest- 
ers. Nor has their interesting fall escaped the notice of an ele- 
gant modern poetess, whose subject led her to treat of that 
calamitous engagement. 

" The glance of the morn had sparkled bright 

On their plumage green and their actons light; 

The bugle was strung at each hunter's side, 

As they had been bound to the chase to ride; 

But the bugle is mute, and the shafts are spent, 

The arm unnerved and the bow unbent, 

And the tired forester is laid 

Far, far from the clustering greenwood shade! 

Sore have they toil'd — they are fallen asleep, 

And their slumber is heavy, and dull, and deep! 

When over their bones the grass shall wave, 

When the wild winds over their tombs shall rave, 

Memory shall lean on their graves, and tell 

How Selkirk's hunters bold around old Stewart fell!" 

Wallace, or the Fight of Falkirk, [by Miss Holford,] 
Lond. 4to, 1809, pp. 170, 1. 



THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO SIXTH. 



Vol. V. 16 



183 

THE 

LORD OF THE ISLES. 

CANTO SIXTH. 



O who, that shared them, ever shall forget 
The emotions of the spirit-rousing time, 
When breathless in the mart the couriers met, 
Early and late, at evening and at prime ; 
When the loud cannon and the merry chime 
Hail'd news on news, as field on field was won, 
When Hope, long doubtful, soar'd at length sublime, 
And our glad eyes, awake as day begun, 
Watch'd Joy's broad banner rise, to meet the rising 
suni 

O these were hours, when thrilling joy repaid 
A long, long course of darkness, doubts, and fears ! 
The heart-sick faintness of the hope delay'd, 
The waste, the woe, the bloodshed, and the tears, 
That track'd with terror twenty rolling years, 
All was forgot in that blithe jubilee ! 
Her downcast eye even pale Affliction rears, 
To sigh a thankful prayer, amid the glee, 
That hail'd the Despot's fall, and peace and liberty ! 

Such news o'er Scotland's hills triumphant rode, 
When 'gainst the invaders turn'd the battle's scale, 
When Bruce's banner had victorious flow'd 



184 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

O'er Loudoun's mountain, and in Ury's vale; 1 
When English blood oft deluged Douglas-dale, 2 
And fiery Edward routed stout St. John, 3 
When Randolph's war-cry swell'd the southern gale, 4 

1 The first important advantage gained by Bruce, after landing 
at Turnberry, was over Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, 
the same by whom he had been defeated near Methve'n. They 
met, as has been said, by appointment, at Loudonhill, in the west 
of Scotland. Pembroke sustained a defeat ; and from that time 
Bruce was at the head of a considerable flying army. Yet he 
was subsequently obliged to retreat into Aberdeenshire, and was 
there assailed by Comyn, Earl of Buchan, desirous to avenge the 
death of his relative, the Red Comyn, and supported by a body 
of English troops under Philip de Moubray. Bruce was ill at 
the time of a scrofulous disorder, but took horse to meet his ene- 
mies, although obliged to be supported on either side. He was 
victorious, and it is said that the agitation of his spirits restored 
his health. 

2 [See Appendix, Note T.] 

3 "John de St. John, with 15,000 horsemen, had advanced to 
oppose the inroad of the Scots. By a forced march he endea- 
voured to surprise them, but intelligence of his motions was 
timeously received. The courage of Edward Bruce, approach- 
ing to temerity, frequently enabled him to achieve what men of 
more judicious valour would never have attempted. He ordered 
the infantry, and the meaner sort of his army, to intrench them- 
selves in strong narrow ground. He himself, with fifty horse- 
men well harnessed, issued forth under cover of a thick mist, 
surprised the English on their march, attacked and dispersed 
them." — Dalrymple's Annals of Scotland, quarto, Edinburgh, 
1779, p. 25. 

4 Thomas Randolph, Bruce's sister's son, a renowned Scottish 
chief, was in the early part of his life not more remarkable for 
consistency than Bruce himself. He espoused his uncle's party 
when Bruce first assumed the crown, and was made prisoner at 
the fatal battle of Methven, in which his relative's hopes appear- 
ed to be ruined. Randolph accordingly not only submitted to the 



Vanto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 185 

And many a fortress, town, and tower, was won, 
And Fame still sounded forth fresh deeds of glory done. 

II. 

Blithe tidings flew from baron's tower, 
To peasant's cot, to forest-bower, 
And waked the solitary cell, 
Where lone Saint Bride's recluses dwell. 
Princess no more, fair Isabel, 

A vot'ress of the order now, 
Say, did the rule that bid thee wear, 
Dim veil and woollen scapulare, 
And reft thy locks of dark-brown hair, 

That stern and rigid vow, 
Did it condemn the transport high, 
Which glisten'd in thy watery eye, 
When minstrel or when palmer told 
Each fresh exploit of Bruce the bold? — 
And whose the lovely form that shares 
Thy anxious hopes, thy fears, thy prayers? 
No sister she of convent shade; 
So say these locks in lengthen'd braid, 

English, but took an active part against Bruce, appeared in arms 
against him, and in the skirmish where he was so closely pur- 

i sued by the bloodhound, it is said his nephew took his standard 

> with his own hand. But Randolph was afterwards made prisoner 
by Douglas in Tweeddale, and brought before King Robert. 
Some harsh language was exchanged between the uncle and 

. nephew, and the latter was committed for a time to close custody. 

r Afterwards, however, they were reconciled, and Randolph was 
created Earl of Moray about 1312. After this period he emi- 
nently distinguished himself, first by the surprise of Edinburgh 
Castle, and afterwards by many similar enterprises, conducted 

i with equal courage and ability. 
16* 



186 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

So say the blushes and the sighs, 
The tremors that unbidden rise, 
When, mingled with the Bruce's fame, 
The brave Lord Ronald's praises came. 

III. 

Believe, his father's castle won, 
And his bold enterprise begun, 
That Bruce's earliest cares restore 
The speechless page to Arran's shore: 
Nor think that long the quaint disguise 
Conceal'd her from a sister's eyes; 
And sister-like in love they dwell 
In that lone convent's silent cell. 
There Bruce's slow assent allows 
Fair Isabel the veil and vows; 
And there, her sex's dress regain'd, 
The lovely Maid of Lorn remain'd, 
Unnamed, unknown, while Scotland far 
Resounded with the din of war,' 
And many a month, and many a day,. 
In calm seclusion wore away. 

IV. 

These days, these months, to years had worn> 
When tidings of high weight were borne 

To that lone island's shore ; 
Of all the Scottish conquests made 
By the first Edward's ruthless blade, 

His son retained no more, 
Northward of Tweed, but Stirling's towers, 
Beleaguer'd by King Robert's powers; 

And they took term of truce, 1 

1 When a long train of success, actively improved by Robert 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 187 

If England's King should not relieve 
The siege ere John the Baptist's eve, 

To yield them to the Bruce. 
England was roused — on every side 
Courier and post and herald hied, 

To summon prince and peer, 
At Berwick-bounds to meet their Liege, 1 
Prepared to raise fair Stirling's siege, 

With buckler, brand, and spear. 

Bruce, had made him master of almost all Scotland, Stirling' 
Castle continued to hold out. The care of the blockade was 
committed by the king to his brother Edward, who concluded a 
treaty with Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, that he should 
surrender the fortress, if it were not succoured by the King of 
England before St. John the Baptist's day. The King severely 
blamed his brother for the impolicy of a treaty, which gave time 
to the King of England to advance to the relief of the castle with 
all his assembled forces, and obliged himself either to meet them 
in battle with an inferior force, or to retreat with dishonour. 
" Let all England come," answered the reckless Edward, " we 
will fight them were they more." The consequence was, of 
course, that each kingdom mustered its strength for the expected 
battle ; and as the space agreed upon reached from Lent to Mid- 
summer, full time was allowed for that purpose. 

1 There is printed in Rymer's Foedera the summons issued 
upon this occasion to the sheriff of York ; and he mentions eighteen 
other persons to whom similar ordinances were issued. It seems 
to respect the infantry alone, for it is entitled, De peditibus ad 
recussum Castri de Slryvelin a Scotis obsessi, properare facien- 
dis. This circumstance is also clear from the reasoning of the 
writ, which states : " We have understood that our Scottish ene- 
mies and rebels are endeavouring to collect as strong a force as 
possible of infantry, in strong and marshy grounds, where the 
approach of cavalry would be difficult, between us and the castle 
of Stirling." — It then sets forth Mowbray's agreement to surren- 
der the castle, if not relieved before St. John the Baptist's day, 



188 THE LORD OF THE ISLES, Canto VL 

The term was nigh — they muster'd fast, 
By beacon and by bugle-blast 

Forth marshall'd for the field; 
There rode each knight of noble name, 
There England's hardy archers came, 
The land they trode seem'd all on flame, 

With banner, blade, and shield ! 
And not famed England's powers alone, 
Renown'd in arms, the summons own ; 

For Neustria's knights obey'd, 
Gascogne hath lent her horsemen good, 
And Cambria, but of late subdued, 
Sent forth her mountain-multitude, 1 

and the king's determination, with, divine grace, to raise the 
siege. " Therefore," the summons farther bears, " to remove 
oar said enemies and rebels from such places as above men- 
tioned, it is necessary for us to have a strong force of infantry fit 
for arms." And accordingly the sheriff of York is commanded 
to equip and send forth a body of four thousand infantry, to be 
assembled at Werk, upon the tenth day of June first, under pain 
of the royal displeasure, &c. 

1 Edward the First, with the usual policy of a conqueror, em- 
ployed the Welsh, whom he had subdued, to assist him in his 
Scottish wars, for which their habits, as mountaineers, particu- 
larly fitted them. But this policy was not without its risks. 
Previous to the battle of Falkirk, the Welsh quarrelled with the 
English men-at-arms, and after bloodshed on both parts, separated 
themselves from his army, and the feud between them, at so dan- 
gerous and critical a juncture, was reconciled with difficulty. 
Edward II. followed his father's example in this particular, and 
with no better success. They could not be brought to exert 
themselves in the cause of their conquerors. But they had an 
indifferent reward for their forbearance. Without arms, and clad 
only in scanty dresses of linen cloth, they appeared naked in the 
eyes even of the Scottish peasantry; and after the rout of Ban- 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 189 

And Connoght pour'd from waste and wood 
Her hundred tribes, whose sceptre rude 
Dark Eth O'Connor sway'd. 1 

V. 

Right to devoted Caledon 

The storm of war rolls slowly on, 

With menace deep and dread; 
So the dark clouds, w T ith gathering power, 
Suspend awhile the threaten'd shower, 
Till every peak and summit lower 

Round the pale pilgrim's head. 
Not with such pilgrim's startled eye 
King Robert mark'd the tempest nigh ! 

Resolved the brunt to bide, 
His royal summons warn'd the land, 
That all who own'd their King's command 
Should instant take the spear and brand, 

To combat at his side. 
O who may tell the sons of fame, 
That at King Robert's bidding came, 

To battle for the right ! 
From Cheviot to the shores of Ross, 
From Solway-Sands to Marshal's-Moss, 

All boun'd them for the fight. 
Such news the royal courier tells, 
Who came to rouse dark Arran's dells ; 
But farther tidings must the ear 
Of Isabel in secret hear. 

nockburn, were massacred by them in great numbers, as they 
retired in confusion towards their own country. They were 
under command of Sir Maurice de Berkeley. 
1 [See Appendix, Note U.] 



190 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

These in her cloister walk, next morn, 
Thus shared she with the Maid of Lorn. 

VI. 

" My Edith, can I tell how dear 
Our intercourse of hearts sincere 

Hath heen to Isabel? — 
Judge then the sorrow of my heart, 
When I must say the words, We part ! 

The cheerless convent-cell 
Was not, sweet maiden, made for thee ; 
Go thou where thy vocation free 

On happier fortunes fell. 
Nor, Edith, judge thyself be tray 'd, 
Though Robert knows that Lorn's high Maid 
And his poor silent page were one. 
Versed in the fickle heart of man, 
Earnest and anxious hath he look'd 
How Ronald's heart the message brook'd 
That gave him, with her last farewell, 
The charge of Sister Isabel, 
To think upon thy better right, 
And keep the faith his promise plight. 
Forgive him for thy sister's sake, 
At first if vain repinings wake — 

Long since that mood is gone : 
Now dwells he on thy juster claims, 
And oft his breach of faith he blames — 

Forgive him for thine own ! " — 

VII. 

"No! never to Lord Ronald's bower 
Will I again as paramour" 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 191 

"Nay, hush thee, too impatient maid, 

Until my final tale be said! — 

The good King Robert would engage 

Edith once more his elfin page, 

By her own heart, and her own eye, 

Her lover's penitence to try — 

Safe in his royal charge, and free, 

Should such thy final purpose be, 

Again unknown to seek the cell, 

And live and die with Isabel." 

Thus spoke the maid — King Robert's eye 

Might have some glance of policy ; 

Dunstaflhage had the monarch ta'en, 

And Lorn had own'd King Robert's reign ; 

Her brother had to England fled, 

And there in banishment was dead ; 

Ample, through exile, death, and flight, 

O'er tower and land was Edith's right; 

This ample right o'er tower and land 

Were safe in Ronald's faithful hand. 

VIII. 

Embarrass'd eye and blushing cheek 
Pleasure and shame, and fear bespeak ! 
Yet much the reasoning Edith made: 
"Her sister's faith she must upbraid, 
Who gave such secret, dark and dear, 
In council to another's ear. 
Why should she leave the peaceful cell? — 
How should she part with Isabel? — 
How wear that strange attire agen? — 
How risk herself 'midst martial men? — 



192 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

And how be guarded on the way? — 
At least she might entreat delay." 
Kind Isabel, with secret smile, 
Saw and forgave the maiden's wile, 
Reluctant to be thought to move 
At the first call of truant love. 

IX. 

Oh, blame her not! — when zephyrs wake, 

The aspen's trembling leaves must shake ; 

When beams the sun through April's shower, 

It needs must bloom, the violet flower; 

And Love, howe'er the maiden strive, 

Must with reviving hope revive ! 

A thousand soft excuses came, 

To plead his cause 'gainst virgin shame. 

Pledged by their sires in earliest youth, 

He had her plighted faith and truth — 

Then, 'twas her Liege's strict command, 

And she, beneath his royal hand, 

A ward in person and in land : — 

And, last, she was resolved to stay 

Only brief space — one little day — 

Close hidden in her safe disguise 

From all, but most from Ronald's eyes- — 

But once to see him more! — nor blame 

Her wish — to hear him name her name! — 

Then, to bear back to solitude 

The thought, he had his falsehood rued! 

But Isabel, who long had seen 

Her pallid cheek and pensive mien, 

And well herself the cause might know, 

Though innocent, of Edith's woe, 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 193 

Joy'd, generous, that revolving time 
Gave means to expiate the crime. 
High glow'd her bosom as she said, 
" Well shall her sufferings be repaid ! " 
Now came the parting hour — a band 
From Arran's mountains left the land; 
Their chief, Fitz-Louis, 1 had the care 
The speechless Amadine to bear 
To Bruce, with honour, as behoved 
To page the monarch dearly loved. 

X. 

The King had deem'd the maiden bright 
Should reach him long before the fight, 
But storms and fate her course delay: 
It was on eve of battle-day, 
When o'er the Gillie's-hill she rode. 
The landscape like a furnace glow'd, 
And far as e'er the eye was borne, 
The lances waved like autumn-corn. 
In battles four beneath their eye, 
The forces of King Robert lie. 2 
And one below the hill was laid, 
Reserved for rescue and for aid; 

1 Fitz-Louis, or Mac-Louis, otherwise called Fullarton, is a 
family of ancient descent in the Isle of Arran. They are said to 
be of French origin, as the name intimates. They attached them- 
selves to Bruce upon his first landing* ; and Fergus Mac-Louis, or 
Fullarton, received from the grateful monarch a charter, dated 
26th November, in the second year of his reign (1307), for the 
lands of Kilmichel, and others, which still remain in this very 
ancient and respectable family. 

2 [See Appendix, Note V.] 

Vol. V. 17 



194 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

And three, advanced, form'd vaward-line, 
'Twixt Bannock's brook and Ninian's shrine. 
Detach'd was each, yet each so nigh 
As well might mutual aid supply. 
Beyond, the Southern host appears, 1 
A boundless wilderness of spears, 
Whose verge or rear the anxious eye 
Strove far, but strove in vain, to spy. 
Thick flashing in the evening beam, 
Glaives, lances, bills, and banners gleam; 
And where the heaven join'd with the hill, 
Was distant armour flashing still, 
So wide, so far, the boundless host 
Seem'd in the blue horizon lost. 

1 Upon the 23d June, 1314, the alarm reached the Scottish 
army of the approach of the enemy. Douglas and the Marshal 
were sent to reconnoitre with a body of cavalry ; 

"And soon the great host have they seen, 

Where shields shining were so sheen, 

And basinets burnished bright, 

That gave against the sun great light. 

They saw so fele* brawdynet baners, *Many. t Displayed. 

Standards and pennons and spears, 

And so fele knights upon steeds, 

All flaming in their weeds. 

And so fele bataills, and so broad, 

And too so great room as they rode, 

That the maist host, and the stoutest 

Of Christendom, and the greatest, 

Should be abaysit for to see 

Their foes into such quantity." 

The Brace, vol ii. p. 111. 

The two Scottish commanders were cautious in the account 
which they brought back to their camp. To the king in private 
they told the formidable state of the enemy ; but hi public 
reported that the English were indeed a numerous host, but ill 
commanded and worse disciplined. 



to 



Canto VI THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 195 

XL 

Down from the hill the maiden pass'd, 
At the wild show of war aghast ; 
And traversed first the rearward host, 
Reserved for aid where needed most. 
The men of Carrick and of Ayr, 
Lennox and Lanark too, were there, 

And all the western land ; 
With these the valiant of the Isles 
Beneath their chieftains rank'd their files, 1 

In many a plaided band. 
There, in the centre, proudly raised, 
The Bruce's royal standard blazed, 
And there Lord Ronald's banner bore 
A galley driven by sail and oar. 
A wild, yet pleasing contrast, made 
Warriors in mail and plate array'd, 
With the plumed bonnet and the plaid 

By these Hebrideans worn; 
But O ! unseen for three long years, 
Dear was the garb of mountaineers 

To the fair maid of Lorn ! 
For one she look'd — but he was far 
Busied amid the ranks of war — 
Yet with affection's troubled eye 
She mark'd his banner boldly fly, 
Gave on the countless foe a glance, 
And thought on battle's desperate chance. 

XII. 
To centre of the vaward line 
Fitz-Louis guided Amadine. 

1 [See Appendix, Note W.] 



196 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

Arm'd all on foot, that host appears 

A serried mass of glimmering spears. 

There stood the Marchers' warlike band, 

The warriors there of Lodon's land; 

Ettrick and Liddell bent the yew, 

A band of archers fierce, though few; 

The men of Nith and Annan's vale, 

And the bold spears of Teviotdale ; — 

The dauntless Douglas these obey, 

And the young Stuart's gentle sway. 

North-eastward by Saint Ninian's shrine, 

Beneath fierce Randolph's charge, combine 

The warriors whom the hardy North 

From Tay to Sutherland sent forth. 

The rest of Scotland's war-array 

With Edward Bruce to westward lay, 

Where Bannock, with his broken bank 

And deep ravine, protects their flank. 

Behind them, screen'd by sheltering wood, 

The gallant Keith, Lord Marshal, stood 

His men-at-arms bear mace and lance, 

And plumes that wave, and helms that glance. 

Thus fair divided by the King, 

Centre, and right, and left-ward wing, 

Composed his front; nor distant far 

Was strong reserve to aid the war. 

And 'twas to front of this array, 

Her guide and Edith made their way. 

XIII. 

Here must they pause ; for, in advance 
As far as one might pitch a lance, 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 197 

The Monarch rode along the van, 1 

The foe's approaching force to scan, 

His line to marshal and to range, 

And ranks to square, and fronts to change. 

Alone he rode — from head to heel 

Sheathed in his readv arms of steel ; 

Nor mounted yet on war-horse wight, 

But, till more near the shock of fight, 

Reining a palfrey low and light. 

A diadem of gold was set 

Above his bright steel basinet, 

And clasp'd within its glittering twine 

Was seen the glove of Argentine ; 

Truncheon or leading staff he lacks 

Bearing, instead, a battle-axe. 

He ranged his soldiers for the fight, 

Accoutred thus, in open sight 

Of either host. — Three bowshots far, 

Paused the deep front of England's war, 

And rested on their arms awhile, 

To close and rank their warlike file, 

And hold high council, if that night 

Should view the strife, or dawning light. 

XIV. 
O gay, yet fearful to behold, 
Flashing with steel and rough with gold, 

And bristled o'er with bills and spears, 
With plumes and pennons waving fair, 
Was that bright battle-front! for there 

Rode England's King and peers : 

1 [See Appendix, Note X.] 
17* 



I 



198 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

And who, that saw that monarch ride, 

His kingdom battled by his side, 

Could then his direful doom foretell ! — 

Fair was his seat in knightly selle, 

And in his sprightly eye was set 

Some spark of the Plantagenet. 

Though light and wandering was his glance, 

It flash'd at sight of shield and lance. 

" Know'st thou," he said, " De Argentine, 

Yon knight who marshals thus their line?" — 

" The tokens on his helmet tell 

The Bruce, my Liege : I know him well." — 

" And shall the audacious traitor brave 

The presence where our banners wave?" — 

" So please my Liege," said Argentine, 

" Were he but horsed on steed like mine, 

To give him fair and knightly chance, 

I would adventure forth my lance." — 

" In battle-day," the King replied, 

"Nice tourney rules are set aside. 

— Still must the rebel dare our wrath? 
Set on him — sweep him from our path ! " 
And, at King Edward's signal, soon 
Dash'd from the ranks Sir Henry Boune. 

XV. 

Of Hereford's high blood he came, 

A race renown'd for knightly fame. 

He burn'd before his Monarch's eye 

To do some deed of chivalry. 

He spurr'd his steed, he couch'd his lance, 

And darted on the Bruce at once. 

— As motionless as rocks, that bide 
The wrath of the advancing tide, 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 199 

The Bruce stood fast. — Each breast beat high, 

And dazzled was each gazing eye — 

The heart had hardly time to think, 

The eyelid scarce had time to wink, 

While on the King, like flash of flame, 

Spurr'd to full speed the war-horse came ! 

The partridge may the falcon mock, 

If that slight palfrey stand the shock — 

But, swerving from the Knight's career, 

Just as they met, Bruce shunn'd the spear. 

Onward the baffled warrior bore 

His course — but soon his course was o'er ! — 

High in his stirrups stood the King, 

And gave his battle-axe the swing. 

Right on De Boune, the whiles he pass'd, 

Fell that stern dint — the first — the last! — 

Such strength upon the blow was put, 

The helmet crash'd like hazel-nut; 

The axe-shaft, with its brazen clasp, 

Was shiver'd to the gauntlet grasp. 

Springs from the blow the startled horse, 

Drops to the plain the lifeless corse; 

— First of that fatal field, how soon, 

How sudden, fell the fierce De Boune ! 

XVI. 

One pitying glance the Monarch sped, 
Where on the field his foe lay dead ; 
Then gently turn'd his palfrey's head, 
And, pacing back his sober way, 
Slowly he gain'd his own array. 
There round their King the leaders crowd, 
And blame his recklessness aloud, 



200 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

That risk'd 'gainst each adventurous spear 
A life so valued and so dear. 
His broken weapon's shaft survey 'd 
The King, and careless answer made, — 
" My loss may pay my folly's tax ; 
I've broke my trusty battle-axe." 
'Twas then Fitz-Louis, bending low, 
Did Isabel's commission show ; 
Edith, disguised, at distance stands, 
And hides her blushes with her hands. 
The monarch's brow has changed its hue, 
Away the gory axe he threw, 
While to the seeming page he drew, 

Clearing war's terrors from his eye. 
Her hand with gentle ease he took, 
With such a kind protecting look, 

As to a weak and timid boy 
Might speak, that elder brother's care 
And elder brother's love were there. 

XVII. 
"Fear not," he said, "young Amadine!" 
Then whisper'd, " Still that name be thine. 
Fate plays her wonted fantasy, 
Kind Amadine, with thee and me, 
And sends thee here in doubtful hour. 
But soon we are beyond her power; 
For on this chosen battle-plain, 
Victor or vanquish'd, I remain. 
Do thou to yonder hill repair; 
The followers of our host are there, 
And all who may not weapons bear. — 
Fitz-Louis, have him in thv care. — 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 201 

t Joyful we meet, if all go well; 
If not, in Arran's holy cell 
Thou must take part with Isabel; 
For brave Lord Ronald, too, hath sworn, 
Not to regain the Maid of Lorn, 
(The bliss on earth he covets most,) 
Would he forsake his battle-post, 
Or shun the fortune that may fall 
To Bruce, to Scotland, and to all. — 
But, hark ! some news these trumpets tell ; 
Forgive my haste — farewell — farewell." — 
And in a lower voice he said, 
"Be of good cheer— farewell, sweet maid!" — 

xviii. 

"What train of dust, with trumpet-sound 

And glimmering spears, is wheeling round 

Our leftward flank?" 1 — the Monarch cried, 

To Moray's Earl who rode beside. 

" Lo ! round thy station pass the foes ! 

Randolph, thy wreath has lost a rose." 

The Earl his visor closed, and said, 

" My wreath shall bloom, or life shall fade. — 

Follow, my household!" — And they go 

Like lightning on the advancing foe. 

"My Liege," said noble Douglas then, 

"Earl Randolph has but one to ten: 

Let me go forth his band to aid ! " — 

— " Stir not. The error he hath made, 

Let him amend it as he may ; 

I will not weaken mine array." 

1 [See Appendix, Note Y.] 



202 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

Then loudly rose the conflict-cry, 

And Douglas's brave heart swell'd high, — 

" My Liege," he said, " with patient ear 

I must not Moray's death-knell hear ! " — 

Forth sprung the Douglas with his train : 

But when they won a rising hill, 

He bade his followers hold them still. — 

" See, see ! the routed Southern fly ! * 

The Earl hath won the victory. 

Lo ! where yon steeds run masterless, 

His banner towers above the press. 

Rein up ; our presence would impair 

The fame we come too late to share." 

Back to the host the Douglas rode, 

And soon glad tidings are abroad, 

That, Dayncourt by stout Randolph slain, 

His followers fled with loosen'd rein. — 

That skirmish closed the busy day, 

And couch'd in battle's prompt array, 

Each army on their weapons lay. 

XIX. 

It was a night of lovely June, 

High rode in cloudless blue the moon, 

Demayet smiled beneath her ray ; 
Old Stirling's towers arose in light, 
And, twined in links of silver bright, 

Her winding river lay. 
Ah, gentle planet ! other sight 
Shall greet thee, next returning night, 
Of broken arms and banners tore, 
And marshes dark with human gore, 
And piles of slaughter'd men and horse, 
And Forth that floats the frequent corse, 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 203 

And many a wounded wretch to plain 

Beneath thy silver light in vain ! 

But now, from England's host, the cry 

Thou hear'st of wassail revelry, 

While from the Scottish legions pass 

The murmur'd prayer, the early mass! — 

Here, numbers had presumption given ; 

There, bands o'er-match'd sought aid from Heaven. 

XX. 

On Gillie's-hill, whose height commands 

The battle-field, fair Edith stands, 

With serf and page unfit for war, 

To eye the conflict from afar. 

O! with what doubtful agony 

She sees the dawning tint the sky! — 

Now on the Ochils gleams the sun, 

And glistens now Demayet dun ; 
Is it the lark that carols shrill, 
Is it the bittern's early hum? 
No! — distant, but increasing still, 
The trumpet's sound swells up the hill, 
With the deep murmur of the drum. 

Responsive from the Scottish host, 

Pipe-clang and bugle-sound were toss'd, 1 

His breast and brow each soldier cross'd, 

1 There is an old tradition, that the well-known Scottish tune 
of " Hey, tutti taitti," was Bruce's march at the battle of Ban- 
nockburn. The late Mr. Ritson, no granter of propositions, 
doubts whether the Scots had any martial music, quotes Froissart's 
account of each soldier in the host bearing a little horn, on 
which, at the onset, they would make such a horrible noise, as if 
all the devils of hell had been among them. He observes, that 



204 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

And started from the ground; 
Arm'd and array'd for instant fight, 
Rose archer, spearman, squire and knight, 
And in the pomp of battle bright 

The dread battalia frown'd. 

XXL 

Now onward, and in open view, 
The countless ranks of England drew, 1 

these horns are the only music mentioned by Barbour, and con- 
cludes, that it must remain a moot point whether Bruce's army 
were cheered by the sound even of a solitary bagpipe. — Histori- 
cal Essay prefixed to Rilson's Scottish Songs. It may be 
observed in passing, that the Scottish of this period certainly 
observed some musical cadence, even in winding their horns, 
since Bruce was at once recognised by his followers from his 
mode of blowing. See note X. on canto iv. But the tradition, 
true or false, has been the means of securing to Scotland one of 
the finest lyrics in the language, the celebrated war-song of 
Burns, — " Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 

1 Upon the 24th of June, the English army advanced to the 
attack. The narrowness of the Scottish front, and the nature of 
the ground, did not permit them to have the full advantage of 
their numbers, nor is it very easy to find out what was their pro- 
posed order of battle. The vanguard, however, appeared a dis- 
tinct body, consisting of archers and spearmen on foot, and com- 
manded, as already said, by the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford. 
Barbour, in one place, mentions that they formed nine battles, 
or divisions ; but from the following passage, it appears that there 
was no room or space for them to extend themselves, so that, 
except the vanguard, the whole army appeared to form one solid 
and compact body : — 

"The English men, on either party, 
That as angels shone brightly, 
Were not arrayed on such manner: 
For all their battles samyn ! were 
1 Together. 






Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 205 

Dark rolling like the ocean-tide, 

When the rough west hath chafed his pride, 

And his deep roar sends challenge wide 

To all that bars his way ! 
In front the gallant archers trode, 
The men-at-arms behind them rode, 
And midmost of the phalanx broad 

The Monarch held his sway. 
Beside him many a war-horse fumes, 
Around him waves a sea of plumes, 



In a schiltrum.' But whether it was 

Through the great straitness of the place 

That they were in, to bide fighting; 

Or that it was for abaysing; 2 

I wete not. But in a schiltrum 

It seemed they were all and some; 

Out ta'en the vaward anerly, 3 

That right with a great company, 

Be them selwyn, arrayed were. 

Who had been by, might have seen there 

That folk ourtake a mekill feild 

On breadth, where many a shining shield, 

And many a burnished bright armour, 

And many a man of great valour, 

Might in that great schiltrum be seen: 

And many a bright banner and sheen." 

Barbour's Bruce, vol. ii. p. 137. 
1 Schiltrum, — This word has been variously limited or extended in its signifi- 
cation. In general, it seems to imply a large body of men drawn up very 
closely together. But it has been limited to imply a round or circular body of 
men so drawn up. I cannot understand it with this limitation in the present 
case. The schiltrum of the Scottish army at Falkirk was undoubtedly of a cir- 
cular form, in order to resist the attacks of the English cavalry, on whatever 
quarter they might be charged. But it does not appear how, or why, the 
English, advancing to the attack at Bannockburn, should have arrayed them- 
selves in a circular form. It seems more probable, that, by Schiltrum in the 
present case, Barbour means to express an irregular mass into which the 
English army was compressed by the unwieldiness of its numbers, and the 
carelessness or ignorance of its leaders. 
a Frightening. 3 Alone. 

Vol. V. 18 



206 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

Where many a knight in battle known, 
And some who spurs had first braced on, 
And deem'd that fight should see them won, 

King Edward's bests obey. 
De Argentine attends his side, 
With stout De Valence, Pembroke's pride, 
Selected champions from the train, 
To wait upon his bridle-rein. 
Upon the Scottish foe he gazed — 
— At once, before his sight amazed, 

Sunk banner, spear, and shield; 
Each weapon-point is downward sent, 
Each warrior to the ground is bent. 
" The rebels, Argentine, repent ! 

For pardon they have kneel'd." — 
"Ay! — but they bend to other powers, 
And other pardon sue than ours ! 
See where yon barefoot Abbot stands, 
And blesses them with lifted hands ! l 
Upon the spot where they have kneel'd, 
These men will die, or win the field." — 
— " Then prove we if they die or win ! 
Bid Gloster's Earl the fight begin." 

1 " Maurice, abbot of Inchaffray, placing himself on an eminence, 
celebrated mass in sight of the Scottish army. He then passed 
along the front, bare-footed, and bearing a crucifix in his hands, 
and exhorting the Scots in few and forcible words, to combat 
for their rights and their liberty. The Scots kneeled down. 
' They yield,' cried Edward ; ' see, they implore mercy.' — ' They 
do,' answered Ingelram de Umfraville, ' but not ours. On that 
field they will be victorious, or die.' " — Annals of Scotland, 
vol. ii. p. 47. 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 207 

XXII. 

Earl Gilbert waved his truncheon high, 

Just as the Northern ranks arose, 
Signal for England's archery 

To halt and bend their bows. 
Then stepp'd each yeoman forth a pace, 
Glanced at the intervening space, 

And raised his left hand high; 
To the right ear the cords they bring — 
— At once ten thousand bow-strings ring, 

Ten thousand arrows fly ! 
Nor paused on the devoted Scot 
The ceaseless fury of their shot ; 

As fiercely and as fast, 
Forth whistling came the grey-goose wing 
As the wild hailstones pelt and ring 

Adown December's blast. 
Nor mountain targe of tough bull-hide, 
Nor lowland mail, that storm may bide; 
Woe, woe to Scotland's banner'd pride, 

If the fell shower may last ! 
Upon the right, behind the wood, 
Each by his steed dismounted, stood 

The Scottish chivalry; — 
— With foot in stirrup, hand on mane, 
Fierce Edward Bruce can scarce restrain 
His own keen heart, his eager train, 
Until the archers gain'd the plain ; 

Then, " Mount, ye gallants free ! " 
He cried ; and, vaulting from the ground, 
His saddle every horseman found. 
On high their glittering crests they toss, 
As springs the wild-fire from the moss; 



208 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

The shield hangs down on every breast, 
Each ready lance is in the rest, 

And loud shouts Edward Bruce, — 
" Forth, Marshal, on the peasant foe ! 
We'll tame the terrors of their bow, 

And cut the bow-string loose ! " l 

XXIII. 

Then spurs were dash'd in chargers' flanks, 
They rush'd among the archer ranks. 
No spears were there the shock to let, 
No stakes to turn the charge were set, 
And how shall yeoman's armour slight 
Stand the long lance and mace of might? 
Or what may their short swords avail, 
'Gainst barbed horse and shirt of mail? 
Amid their ranks the chargers sprung, 
High o'er their heads the weapons swung, 
And shriek and groan and vengeful shout 
Give note of triumph and of rout! 
Awhile, with stubborn hardihood, 
Their English hearts the strife made good; 
Borne down at length on every side, 
Compell'd to flight they scatter wide. — 
Let stags of Sherwood leap for glee, 
And bound the deer of Dallom-Lee ! 
The broken bows of Bannock's shore 
Shall in the greenwood ring no more ! 
Round Wakefield's merry may-pole now, 
The maids may twine the summer bough, 
May northward look with longing glance, 
For those that wont to lead the dance, 

1 [See Appendix, Note Z.] 






Canto VI THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 209 

For the blithe archers look in vain! 

Broken, dispersed, in flight o'erta'en, 

Pierced through, trod down, by thousands slain, 

They cumber Bannock's bloody plain. 

XXIV. 

The King with scorn beheld their flight. 
"Are these," he said, "our yeomen wight? 
Each braggart churl could boast before, 
Twelve Scottish lives his baldric bore! 1 
Fitter to plunder chase or park, 
Than make a manly foe their mark. — 
Forward, each gentleman and knight ! 
Let gentle blood show generous might, 
And chivalry redeem the fight!" 
To rightward of the wild affray, 
The field show'd fair and level way; 
But, in mid-space, the Bruce's care 

1 Roger Ascham quotes a similar Scottish proverb, " whereby 
they give the whole praise of shooting honestly to Englishmen, 
saying thus, l that every English archer beareth under his girdle 
twenty-four Scottes.' Indeed Toxophilus says before, and truly 
of the Scottish nation, 'The Scottes surely be good men of warre 
in theyre owne feates as can be ; but as for shootinge, they can 
neither use it to any profite, nor yet challenge it for any praise.' " 
— Works of Ascham, edited by Bennet, 4to, p. 110. 

It is said, I trust incorrectly, by an ancient English historian, 
that the " good Lord James of Douglas" dreaded the superiority 
of the English archers so much, that when he made any of them 
prisoner, he gave him the option of losing the forefinger of his 
right hand, or his right eye, either species of mutilation rendering 
him incapable to use the bow. I have mislaid the reference to 
this singular passage, 
18* 



210 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

Had bored the earth with many a pit, 
With turf and brushwood hidden yet, 

That form'd a ghastly snare. 
Rushing, ten thousand horsemen came, 
With spears in rest, and hearts on flame, 

That panted for the shock! 
With blazing crests and banners spread, 
And trumpet-clang and clamour dread, 
The wide plain thunder'd to their tread, 

As far as Stirling rock. 
Down! down! in headlong overthrow, 
Horseman and horse, the foremost go, 1 

Wild floundering on the field ! 
The first are in destruction's gorge, 
Their followers wildly o'er them urge; — 

The knightly helm and shield, 
The mail, the acton, and the spear, 
Strong hand, high heart, are useless here ! 
Loud from the mass confused the cry 
Of dying warriors swells on high, 
And steeds that shriek in agony! 2 

1 It is generally alleged by historians, that the English men-at- 
arms fell into the hidden snare which Bruce had prepared for them. 
Barbour does not mention the circumstance. According to his 
account, Randolph, seeing the slaughter made by the cavalry on 
the right wing among the archers, advanced courageously against 
the main body of the English, and entered into close combat with 
them. Douglas and Stuart, who commanded the Scottish centre, 
led their division also to the charge, and the battle becoming 
general along the whole line, was obstinately maintained on both 
sides for a long space of time ; the Scottish archers doing great 
execution among the English men-at-arms, after the bowmen of 
England were dispersed. 

2 1 have been told that this line requires an explanatory note ; 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 211 

They came like mountain-torrent red, 
That thunders o'er its rocky bed; 
They broke like that same torrent's wave, 1 
When swallow'd by a darksome cave. 
Billows on billows burst and boil, 
Maintaining still the stern turmoil, 
And to their wild and tortured groan 
Each adds new terrors of his own! 

XXV. 

Too strong in courage and in might 
Was England yet, to yield the fight 

Her noblest all are here; 
Names that to fear were never known, 
Bold Norfolk's Earl De Brotherton, 

And Oxford's famed De Vere. 
There Gloster plied the bloody sword, 
And Berkley, Grey, and Hereford, 

■ ^and, indeed, those who witness the silent patience with which 
horses submit to the most cruel usage, may be permitted to doubt, 
that, in moments of sudden or intolerable anguish, they utter a 
most melancholy cry. Lord Erskine, in a speech made in the 
House of Lords, upon a bill for enforcing humanity towards ani- 
mals, noticed this remarkable fact, in language which I will not 
mutilate by attempting to repeat it It was my fortune, upon 
one occasion, to hear a horse, in a moment of agony, utter a 
thrilling scream, which I still consider the most melancholy sound 
I ever heard. 

1 [It is impossible not to recollect our author's own lines — 

"As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, 

Receives her roaring linn, 
As the dark caverns of the deep 

Suck the wild whirlpool in; 
So did the deep and darksome pass 
Devour the battle's mingled mass." 

Lady of the Lake, Canto vi. stanza 18.] 



212 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI 

Bottetourt and Sanzavere, 
Ross, Montague, and Mauley, came, 
And Courtenay's pride, and Percy's fame — 
Names known too well in Scotland's war, 
At Falkirk, Methven, and Dunbar, 
Blazed broader yet in after years, 
At Cressy red and fell Poitiers. 
Pembroke with these, and Argentine, 
Brought up the rearward battle-line. 
With caution o'er the ground they tread, 
Slippery with blood and piled with dead, 
Till hand to hand in battle set, 
The bills with spears and axes met, 
And, closing dark on every side, 
Raged the full contest far and wide. 
Then was the strength of Douglas tried, 
Then proved was Randolph's generous pr , 
And well did Stewart's actions grace 
The sire of Scotland's royal race f 

Firmly they kept their ground * r 
As firmly England onward press'd, 
And down went many a noble crest, 
And rent was many a valiant breast, 

And Slaughter revell'd round. 

XXVI. 

Unflinching foot 'gainst foot was set, 
Unceasing blow by blow was met; 

The groans of those who fell 
Were drown'd amid the shriller clang, 
That from the blades and harness rang, 

And in the battle-yell. 
Yet fast they fell, unheard, forgot, 
Both Southern fierce and hardy Scot; 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 213 

And O ! amid that waste of life, 

What various motives fired the strife! 

The aspiring Noble bled for fame, 

The Patriot for his country's claim; 

This Knight his youthful strength to prove, 

And that to win his lady's love; 

Some fought from ruffian thirst of blood, 

From habit some, or hardihood. 

But ruffian stern, and soldier good, 

The noble and the slave, 
From various cause the same wild road, 
On the same bloody morning, trode, 

To that dark inn, the Grave! 1 

XXVII. 

The tug of strife to flag begins, 
Though neither loses yet nor wins. 
High rides the sun. thick rolls the dust, 
And feebler speeds the blow and thrust. 
Douglas leans on his war-sword now, 
And Randolph wipes his bloody brow; 
Nor less had toil'd each Southern knight, 
From morn till mid-day in the fight 
Strong Egremont for air must gasp, 
Beauchamp undoes his visor clasp, 
And Montague must quit his spear, 
And sinks thy falchion, bold De Vere! 
The blow of Berkley fall less fast, 
And gallant Pembroke's bugle-blast 
Hath lost its lively tone; 



1 [ " All these, life's rambling journey done, 
Have found their home, the grave." — 

Cowper.] 



214 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

Sinks, Argentine, thy battle-word, 
And Percy's shout was fainter heard f 
" My merry-men, fight on I " 

XXVIIL 
Bruce, with the pilot's wary eye, 
The slackening of the storm could spy. 
" One effort more, and Scotland 's free i 
Lord of the Isles, my trust in thee 

Is firm as Ailsa Rock ; 
Rush on with Highland sword and targe ? 
I, with my Carrick spearmen, charge ; ' 

Now, forward to the shock ! " 
At once the spears were forward thrown* 
Against the sun the broadswords shone : 
The pibroch lent its maddening tone, 
And loud King Robert's voice was known — 
"Carrick, press on — they fail, they fail I 
Press on, brave sons of Innisgail, 

The foe is fainting fast ! 
Each strike for parent, child, and wife, 
For Scotland, liberty, and life* — 
The battle cannot last ! " 

1 When the engagement between the main bodies had lasted 
some time, Bruce made a decisive movement, by bringing up the 
Scottish reserve. It is traditionally said, that at this crisis, he 
addressed the Lord of the Isles in a phrase used as a motto by 
some of his descendants, " My trust is constant in thee." Bar- 
bour intimates, that the reserve " assembled on one field," that 
is, on the same line with the Scottish forces already engaged ; 
which leads Lord Hailes to conjecture that the Scottish ranks 
must have been much thinned by slaughter, since, in that circum- 
scribed ground, there was room for the reserve to fall into the 
line. But the advance of the Scottish cavalry must have con- 
tributed a good deal to form the vacancy occupied by the reserve. 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 215 

XXIX. 

The fresh and desperate onset bore 
The foes three furlongs back and more, 
Leaving their noblest in their gore. 

Alone, De Argentine 
Yet bears on high his red-cross shield, 
Gathers the relics of the field, 
Renews the ranks where they have reel'd, 

And still makes good the line. 
Brief strife, but fierce, his efforts raise, 
A bright but momentary blaze. 
Fair Edith heard the Southern shout, 
Beheld them turning from the rout, 
Heard the wild call their trumpets sent, 
In notes 'tvvixt triumph and lament. 
That rallying force, combined anew, 
Appear'd in her distracted view, 

To hem the Islesmen round ; 
" O God ! the combat they renew, 

And is no rescue found! 
And ye that look thus tamely on, 
And see your native land o'erthrown, 
O! are your hearts of flesh or stone?" 

XXX. 

The multitude that watch'd afar, 
Rejected from the ranks of war, 
Had not unmoved beheld the fight, 
When strove the Bruce for Scotland's right; 
Each heart had caught the patriot spark, 
Old man and stripling, priest and clerk, 
Bondsman and serf; even female hand 
Stretch'd to the hatchet or the brand; 



216 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VI. 

But, when mute Amadine they heard 
Give to their zeal his signal-word, 

A frenzy fired the throng; 
" Portents and miracles impeach 
Our sloth — the dumb our duties teach — 
And he that gives the mute his speech, 
Can bid the weak be strong. 
To us, as to our lords, are given 
A native earth, a promised heaven ; 
To us, as to our lords, belongs 
The vengeance for our nation V wrongs ; 
The choice, 'twixt death or freedom, warms 
Our breasts as theirs — To arms, to arms!" 
To arms they flew, — axe, club, or spear, — 
And mimic ensigns high they rear, 1 
And, like a banner'd host afar, 
Bear down on England's wearied war. 

XXXI. 

Already scatter'd o'er the plain, 
Reproof, command, and counsel vain, 
The rearward squadrons fled amain, 

Or made but doubtful stay; — 
But when they mark'd the seeming show 
Of fresh and fierce and marshall'd foe, 

The boldest broke array. 
O give their hapless prince his due! 2 
In vain the royal Edward threw 

His person 'mid the spears, 
Cried " Fight ! " to terror and despair, 
Menaced, and wept, and tore his hair, 

1 [See Appendix, Note A 2.] 2 [See Appendix, Note B 2.] 



€antoVL THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 217 

And cursed their caitiff fears ; 
Till Pembroke turn'd his bridle rein, 
And forced him from the fatal plain* 
With them rode Argentine, until 
They gain'd the summit of the hill, 
But quitted there the train: — 
4t In yonder field a gage I left, — 
I must not live of fame bereft; 

I needs must turn again. 
Speed hence, my Liege, for on your trace 
The fiery Douglas takes the chase, 
t I know his banner well. 
God send my Sovereign joy and bliss, 
And many a happier field than this ! — 

Once more, my Liege, farewell." 

XXXIL 

Again he faced the battle-field, — 

Wildly they fly, are slain, or yield. 

46 Now then," he said, and couch'd his spear, 

"My course is run, the goal is near; 

One effort more, one brave career, 

Must close this race of mine." 
Then in his stirrups rising high, 
He shouted loud his battle-cry, 

" Saint James for Argentine ! " 
And, of the bold pursuers, four 
The gallant knight from saddle bore; 
But not unharm'd — a lance's point 
Has found his breastplate's loosen'd joint, 

An axe has razed his crest; 
Yet still on Colonsay's fierce lord, 
Who press'd the chase with gory sword, 
Vol. V. 19 



218 THE LORD O* THE ISLES. Canto VI. Y ■ 

He rode with spear in rest, 
And through his bloody tartans bored, 

And through his gallant breast. 
Nail'd to the earth, the mountaineer 
Yet writhed him up against the spear, 

And swung his broadsword round \ 
— Stirrup, steel-boot, and cuish gave way, 
Beneath that blow's tremendous sway, 

The blood gush'd from the wound; 
And the grim Lord of Colonsay 

Hath turn'd him on the ground, 
And laugh'd in death-pang, that his blade 
The mortal thrust so well repaid. 

XXXIII. 

Now toil'd the Bruce, the battle done, 
To use his conquest boldly won ; 
And gave command for horse and spear 
To press the Southern's scatter'd rear, 
Nor let his broken force combine, 
— When the war-cry of Argentine 

Fell faintly on his ear; 
" Save, save his life," he cried, " O save 
The kind, the noble, and the brave ! " 
The squadrons round free passage gave, 

The wounded knight drew near ; 
He raised his red-cross shield no more, 
Helm, cuish, and breastplate stream'd with gore, 
Yet, as he saw the King advance, 
He strove even then to couch his lance — 

The effort was in vain ! 
The spur-stroke fail'd to rouse the horse; 
Wounded and weary, in mid course 

He stumbled on the plain. 



Canto VI. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 219 

Then foremost was the generous Bruce 
To raise his head, his helm to loose; — 

"Lord Earl, the day is thine! 
My Sovereign's charge, and adverse fate, 
Have made our meeting all too late: 

Yet this may Argentine, 
As boon from ancient comrade, crave — 
A Christian's mass, a soldier's grave." 

XXXIV. 

Bruce press'd his dying hand — its grasp 
Kindly replied; but, in his clasp, 

It stiflfen'd and grew cold — 
"And, O farewell!" the victor cried, 
" Of chivalry the flower and pride, 

The arm in battle bold, 
The courteous mien, the noble race, 
The stainless faith, the manly, face ! — 
Bid Ninian's convent light their shrine, 
For late-wake of De Argentine. 
O'er better knight on death-bier laid, 
Torch never gleam'd nor mass was said!" 

XXXV. 

Nor for De Argentine alone, 

Through Ninian's church these torches shone, 

And rose the death-prayer's awful tone. 1 

That yellow lustre glimmer'd pale, 

On broken plate and bloodied mail, 

Rent crest and shatter'd coronet, 

Of Baron, Earl, and Banneret; 

And the best names that England knew, 

Claim'd in the death-prayer dismal due. 

1 [See Appendix, Note C 2.] 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES. Canto VL 

Yet mourn not, Land of Fame ! 
Though ne'er the leopards on thy shield 
Retreated from so sad a field, 

Since Norman William came* 
Oft may thine annals justly hoast 
Of hattles stern by Scotland lost ; 

Grudge not her victory, 
When for her freeborn rights she strove; 
Rights dear to all who freedom love, 

To none so dear as thee I 

XXXVI. 

Turn we to Bruce, whose curious ear 
Must from Fitz-Louis tidings hear ; 
With him, a hundred voices tell 
Of prodigy and miracle, 

"For the mute page had spoke." — 
" Page ! " said Fitz-Louis, " rather say, j 

An angel sent from realms of day, 

To burst the English yoke. 
I saw his plume and bonnet drop, 
When hurrying from the mountain top; 
A lovely brow, dark locks that wave, 
To his bright eyes new lustre gave, 
A step as light upon the green, 
As if his pinions waved unseen ! " — 
" Spoke he with none?" — "With none — one word u 
Burst when he saw the Island Lord, 
Returning from the battle-field." — 
" What answer made the Chief?" — " He kneePd, 
Durst not look up, but mutter'd low 
Some mingled sounds that none might know* 
And greeted him, 'twixt joy and fear, 
As being of superior sphere." 



: 



I Canto VI THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 221 

XXXVII. 

Even upon Bannock's bloody plain, 
Heap'd then with thousands of the slain, 
'Mid victor monarch's musings high, 
Mirth laugh'd in good King Robert's eye. 
"And bore he such angelic air, 
Such noble front, such waving hair? 
Hath Ronald kneel'd to him ? " he* said, 
" Then must we call the church to aid — 
Our will be to the Abbot known, 
Ere these strange news are wider blown, 
To Cambuskenneth straight ye pass, 
And deck the church for solemn mass, 
To pay for high deliverance given, 
A nation's thanks to gracious Heaven. 
Let him array, besides, such state, 
As should on princes' nuptials wait. 
Ourself the cause, through fortune's spite, 
That once broke short that spousal rite, 
Ourself will grace, with early morn, 
The bridal of the Maid of Lorn." 1 



1 [" To Mr. James Ballantyne. — Dear Sir, — You have now the 
whole affair, excepting two or three concluding stanzas. As your 
taste for bride's cake may induce you to desire to know more of 
the wedding, I will save you some criticism by saying, I have set- 
tled to stop short as above. — Witness my hand, 

19* "W. S."] 



222 



CONCLUSION* 



Go forth, my Song, upon thy venturous way ; 
Go boldly forth j nor yet thy master blame, 
Who chose no patron for his humble lay, 
And graced thy numbers with no friendly name, 
Whose partial zeal might smooth thy path to fame, j 
There was — and O ! how many sorrows crowd 
Into these two brief words ! — there was a claim 
By generous friendship given — had fate allow'd, 
It well had bid thee rank the proudest of the proud I 

All angel now — yet little less than all, 
While still a pilgrim in our world below ! 
What 'vails it us that patience to recall, 
Which hid its own to soothe all other woe ; 
What 'vails to tell, how Virtue's purest glow 
Shone yet more lovely in a form so fair :* 
And, least of all, what 'vails the world should know 
That one poor garland, twined to deck thy hair, 
Is hung upon thy hearse, to droop and wither there ! 

1 [The reader is referred to Mr. Hogg's " Pilgrims of the Sun 1 
for some beautiful lines, and a highly interesting note, on thi 
death of the Duchess of Buccleuch. See ante, p. 10.] 



, 



APPENDIX 



TO THE 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 



225 



APPENDIX 



Note A. 

Thy rugged halls , Artornish ! rung. — P. 21. 

The ruins of the Castle of Artornish are situated upon a pro- 
montory, on the Morven, or mainland side of the Sound of Mull, 
a name given to the deep arm of the sea, which divides that 
island from the continent. The situation is wild and romantic in 
the highest degree, having on the one hand a high and precipitous 
chain of rocks overhanging the sea, and on the other the narrow 
entrance to the beautiful salt-water lake, called Loch Alline, 
which is in many places finely fringed with copsewood. The ruins 
of Artornish are not now very considerable, and consist chiefly 
of the remains of an old keep, or tower, with fragments of out- 
ward defences. But, in former days, it was a place of great 
consequence, being one of the principal strongholds which the 
Lords of the Isles, during the period of their stormy independence, 
possessed upon the mainland of Argyleshire. Here they assem- 
bled what popular tradition calls their parliaments, meaning, I 
suppose, . their cour pleniere, or assembly of feudal and patri- 
archal vassals and dependants. From this Castle of Artornish, 
upon the 19th day of October, 1461, John de Yle, designing him- 
self Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, granted, in the sty]e of 
an independent sovereign, a commission to his trusty and well- 
beloved cousins, Ronald of the Isles, and Duncan, Arch-Dean of 
the Isles, for empowering them to enter into a treaty with the 
most excellent Prince Edward, by the grace of God, King of 
France and England, and Lord of Ireland. Edward IV., on his 
part, named Laurence, Bishop of Durham, the Earl of Worcester, 
the Prior of St. John's, Lord Wenlock, and Mr. Robert Stillington, 
keeper of the privy seal, his deputies and commissioners, to 
confer with those named by the Lord of the Isles. The confer- 
ence terminated in a treaty, by which the Lord of the Isles 



226 APPENDIX TO 

agreed to become a vassal to the crown of England, and to assist 
Edward IV. and James Earl of Douglas, then in banishment, in 
subduing the realm of Scotland. 

The first article provides, that John de Isle, Earl of Ross, with 
his son Donald Balloch, and his grandson John de Isle, with all 
their subjects, men, people, and inhabitants, become vassals and 
liegemen to Edward IV. of England, and assist him in his wars 
in Scotland or Ireland ; and then follow the allowances to be made 
to the Lord of the Isles, in recompense of his military service, 
and the provisions for dividing such conquests as their united 
arms should make upon the mainland of Scotland among the con- 
federates. These appear such curious illustrations of the period, 
that they are here subjoined : 

" Item, The seid John Erie of Rosse shall, from the seid fest 
of Whittesontyde next comyng, yerely, during his lyf, have and 
take, for fees and wages in tyme of peas, of the seid most high 
and Christien prince c. mark sterlyng of Englysh money ; and in 
tyme of werre, as long as he shall entende with his myght and 
power in the said werres, in manner and fourm abovesaid, he 
shall have wages of cc. lb. sterlyng of English money yearly ; 
and after the rate of the tyme that he shall be occupied in the 
seid werres. 

" Item, The seid Donald shall, from the seid feste of Whitte- 
sontyde, have and take, during his lyf, yerly, in tyme of peas, 
for his fees and wages, xx 1. sterlyng of Englysh money ; and, 
when he shall be occupied and intend to the werre, with his 
myght and power, and in manner and fourme aboveseid, he shall 
have and take, for his wages yearly, xl 1. sterlynge of Englysh 
money ; or for the rate of the tyme of werre 

" Item, The seid John, sonn and heire apparant of the said 
Donald, shall have and take, yerely, from the seid fest, for his 
fees and wages, in the tyme of peas, x 1. sterlynge of Englysh 
money ; and for tyme of werre, and his intendyng thereto, in 
manner and fourme aboveseid, he shall have, for his fees and 
wages, yearly xx 1. sterlynge of English money ; or after the 
rate of the tyme that he shall be occupied in the werre : And 
the seid John, th' Erie Donald and John, and eche of them, shall 
have good and sufficiaunt paiment of the seid fees and wages, 
as wel for tyme of peas as of werre, accord yng to thees articules 



THE LORD OF THE ISLES, 227 

and appoyntements. Item, it is appointed, accorded, concjuded, 
and finally determined, that, if it be so that hereafter the seid 
reaume of Scotlande, or the more part thereof, be conquered, 
subdued, and brought to the obeissance of the seid most high and 
Christien prince, and his heires, or successoures, of the seid 
Lionell, in fourme aboveseid descendyng, be the assistance, helpe, 
and aide of the seid John Erie of Rosse, and Donald, and of James 
Erie of Douglas, then, the seid fees and wages for the tyme of 
peas cessying, the same erles and Donald shall have, by the 
graunte of the same most Christien prince, all the possessions 
of the seid reaume beyonde Scottishe see, they to be departed 
equally betwix them : eche of them, his heires and successours, 
to hold his parte of the seid most Christien prince, his heires and 
successours, for evermore, in right of his croune of England, by 
homage and feaute to be done therefore. 

" Item, If so be that, by th' aide and assistence of the seid 
James Erie of Douglas, the saide reaume of Scotlande be con- 
quered and subdued as above, then he shall have, enjoie, and 
inherite all his own possessions, landes, and inheritance, on this 
syde the Scottish see ; that is to saye, betwixt the seid Scottishe 
see and Englande, such he hath rejoiced and be possessed of be- 
fore this ; there to holde them of the seid most high and Chris- 
tien prince, his heires, and successours. as is abovesaid, for ever- 
more, in right of the coroune of Englonde, as weel the seid 
Erie of Douglas, as his heires and successours, by homage and 
feaute to be done therefore." — Rymer's Feeder a Conventiones 
LitercB et cujuscunque generis Acta Publica, fol. vol. v., 1741. 

Such was the treaty of Artornish ; but it does not appear that 
the allies ever made any very active effort to realize their ambi- 
tious designs. It will serve to show both the power of these 
reguli, and their independence upon the crown of Scotland. 

It is only farther necessary to say of the Castle of Artornisti, 
that it is almost opposite to the Bay of Aros, in the Island of 
Mull, where there was another castle, the occasional residence 
of the Lord of the Isles. 



228 APPENDIX TO THE 

Note B. 

Mingarry sternly 'placed, 

Overawes the woodland and the viaste. — P. 27. 

The Castle of Mingarry is situated on the sea-coast of the dis- 
trict of Ardnamurchan. The ruins, which are tolerably entire, 
are surrounded by a very high wall, forming a kind of polygon, 
for the purpose of adapting itself to the projecting angles of a 
precipice overhanging the sea, on which the castle stands. It 
was anciently the residence of the Mac-Ians, a clan of Mac-Don- 
alds, descended from Ian, or John, a grandson of Angus Og, Lord 
of the Isles. The last time that Mingarry was of military 
importance, occurs in the celebrated Leabhar dearg, or Red-book 
of Clanronald, a MS. renowned in the Ossianic controversy. 
Allaster Mac-Donald, commonly called Colquitto, who commanded 
the Irish auxiliaries, sent over by the Earl of Antrim during the 
great civil war to the assistance of Montrose, began his enter- 
prise in 1644, by taking the castles of Kinloch-AUine, and Min- 
garry, the last of which made considerable resistance, as might, 
from the strength of the situation, be expected. In the mean- 
while, Allaster Mac-Donald's ships, w T hich had brought him over, 
were attacked in Loch Eisord, in Skye, by an armament sent 
round by the covenanting parliament, and his own vessel was 
taken. This circumstance is said chiefly to have induced him to 
continue in Scotland, where there seemed little prospect of 
raising an army in behalf of the king. He had no sooner moved 
eastward to join Montrose, a junction which he effected in the 
braes of Athole, than the Marquis of Argyle besieged the castle 
of Mingarry, but without success. Among other warriors and 
chiefs whom Argyle summoned to his camp to assist upon this 
occasion, was John of Moidart, the Captain of Clanronald. 
Clanronald appeared ; but, far from yielding effectual resistance 
to Argyle, be took the opportunity of being in arms to lay waste 
the district of Sunart, then belonging to the adherents of Argyle, 
and sent part of the spoil to relieve the Castle of Mingarry. 
Thus the castle was maintained until relieved by Allaster Mac- 
Donald (Colquitto), who had been detached for the purpose by 
Montrose. These particulars are hardly worth mentioning, were 
they not connected with the memorable successes of Montrose, 
related by an eyewitness, and hitherto unknown to Scottish 
historians. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 229 

Note C. 

Lord of the Isles. — P. 28. 

The representative of this independent principality, for such it 
seems to have been, though acknowledging occasionally the pre- 
eminence of the Scottish crown, was, at the period of the poem, 
Angus, called Angus Og; but the name has been, euphonies 
gratia, exchanged for that of Ronald, which frequently occurs 
in the genealogy. Angus was a protector of Robert Bruce, whom 
he received in his Castle of Dunnaverty, during the time of his 
greatest distress. As I shall be equally liable to censure for 
attempting to decide a controversy which has long existed 
between three distinguished chieftains of this family, who have 
long disputed the representation of the Lord of the Isles, or for 
leaving a question of such importance altogether untouched, I 
choose, in the first place, to give such information as I have been 
able to derive from Highland genealogists, and which, for those 
who have patience to investigate such subjects, really contains 
some curious information concerning the history of the Isles. In 
the second place, I shall offer a few remarks upon the rules of 
succession at that period, without pretending to decide their 
bearing upon the question at issue, which must depend upon evi- 
dence which I have had no opportunity to examine. 

" Angus Og," says an ancient manuscript translated from the 
Gaelic, " son of Angus Mor, son of Donald, son of Ronald, son 
of Somerled, high chief and superior Lord of Innisgall, (or the 
Isles of the Gael, the general name given to the Hebrides,) he 
married a daughter of Cunbui, namely, Cathan ; she was mother 
to John, son of Angus, and with her came an unusual portion from 
Ireland, viz. twenty-four clans, of whom twenty-four families in 
Scotland are descended. Angus had another son, namely, young 
John Fraoch, whose descendants are called Clan-Ean of Glencoe, 
and the M'Donalds of Fraoch. This Angus Og died in Isla, 
where his body was interred. His son John succeeded to the 
inheritance of Innisgall. He had good descendants, namely, 
three sons procreate of Ann, daughter of Rodric, high chief of 
Lorn, and one daughter, Mary, married to John Maclean, Laird 
of Duart, and Lauchlan, his brother, Laird of Coll ; she was 

Vol. V. 20 



230 APPENDIX TO THE 

interred in the church of the Black Nuns. The eldest sons of 

John were Ronald, Godfrey, and Angus He gave 

Ronald a great inheritance. These were the lands which he 
gave him, viz. from Kilcumin in Abertarf to the river Seil, and 
from thence to Beilli, north of Eig and Rum, and the two Uists, 
and from thence to the foot of the river Glaichan, and threescore 
long ships. John married afterwards Margaret Stewart, daughter 
to Robert Stewart, King of Scotland, called John Ferny ear ; she 
bore him three good sons, Donald of the Isles, the heir, John the 
Tainister, (i. e. Thane,) the second son, and Alexander Carrach. 
John had another son called Marcus, of whom the clan Macdonald 
of Cnoc, in Tirowen, are descended. This John lived long, and 
made donations to Icolumkill ; he covered the chapel of Eorsay- 
Elan, the chapel of Finlagam, and the chapel of the Isle of 
Tsuibhne, and gave the proper furniture for the service of God, 
upholding the clergy and monks ; he built or repaired the church 
of the Holy Cross immediately before his death. He died at his 
own castle of x\rdtorinish, many priests and monks took the 
sacrament at his funeral, and they embalmed the body of this 
dear man, and brought it to Icolumkill ; the abbot, monks, and 
vicar, came as they ought to meet the King of Piongal, 1 and out 
of great respect to his memory mourned eight days and nights 
over it, and laid it in the same grave with his father, in the 
church of Oran, 1390. 

w Ronald, son of John, was chief ruler of the Isles in his father's 
lifetime, and was old in the government at his father's death. 

" He assembled the gentry of the Isles, brought the sceptre 
from Kildonan in Eig, and delivered it to his brother Donald, who 
was thereupon called M'Donald, and Donald Lord of the Isles, 2 
contrary to the opinion of the men of the Isles. 

"Ronald, son of John, son of Angus Og, was a great supporter 
of the church and clergy; his descendants are called Clanronald. 
He gave the lands of Tiruma, in Uist, to the minister of it for 
ever, for the honour of God and Columkill ; he was proprietor of 
all the lands of the north along the coast and the isles; he died 
in the year of Christ 1386, in his own mansion of Castle Tirim, 
leaving five children. Donald of the Isles, son of John, son of 

1 Western Isles and adjacent coast. ■ Innisgal. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 231 

Angus Og, the brother of Ronald, took possession of Inisgall by 
the consent of his brother and the gentry thereof; they were all 
obedient to him ; he married Mary Lesley, daughter to the Earl 
of Ross, and by her came the earldom of Ross to the M'Donalds. 
After his succession to that earldom, he was called M'Donald, 
Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross. There are many things 
written of him in other places. 

" He fought the battle of Garioch (i. e.) Harlaw) against Duke 
Murdoch, the governor, the Earl of Mar commanded the army, in 
support of his claim to the earldom of Ross : which was ceded to 
him by King James the First, after his release from the King of 
England, and Duke Murdoch, his two sons and retainers, were 
beheaded : he gave lands in Mull and Isla to the minister of Hi, 
and every privilege which the minister of Iona had formerly, be- 
sides vessels of gold and silver to Columkill for the monastery, 
and became himself one of the fraternity. He left issue, a lawful 
heir to Innisgall and Ross, namely, Alexander, the son of Donald: 
he died in Isla, and his body was interred in the south side of the 
temple of Oran. Alexander, called John of the Isles, son of Alex- 
ander of the Isles, son of Donald of the Isles. Angus, the third 
son of John, son of Angus Og, married the daughter of John, the 
son of Allan, which connexion caused some disagreement betwixt 
the two families about their marches and division of lands, the 
one party adhering to Angus, and the other to John : the differ- 
ences increased so much, that John obtained from Allan all the 
lands betwixt Abhan Fahda (i. e. the long river) and old na sion- 
nach (i. e. the fox-burn brook), in the upper part of Cantyre. 
Allan went to the king to complain of his son-in-law ; in a short 
time thereafter, there happened to be a great meeting about this 
young Angus's lands to the north of Inverness, where he was 
murdered by his own harper Mac-Cairbre, by cutting his throat 
with a long knife. He * lived a year thereafter, and many of 
those concerned were delivered up to the king. Angus's wife 
was pregnant at the time of his murder, and she bore him a son 
who was named Donald, and called Donald Du. He was kept 
in confinement until he was thirty years of age, when he was 
released by the men of Glenco, by the strong hand. After this 

J The murderer, I presume, not the man who was murdered. 



232 APPENDIX TO THE 

enlargement, he came to the Isles, and convened the gentry 
thereof. There happened great feuds betwixt these families 
while Donald Du was in confinement, insomuch that Mac-Cean 
of Ardnamurchan destroyed the greatest part of the posterity of 
John Mor of the Isles and Cantyre. For John Cathanach, son 
of John, son of Donald Balloch, son of John Mor, son of John, sen 
of Angus Og (the chief of the descendants of John Mor), and 
John Mor, son of John Cathanach, and young John, son of John 
Cathanach, and young Donald Balloch, son of John Cathanach, 
were treacherously taken by Mac-Cean in the island of Finlagan, 
in Isla, and carried to Edinburgh, where he got them hanged at 
the Burro w-muir, and their bodies were buried in the church of 
St. Anthony, called the New Church. There were none left 
alive at that time of the children of John Cathanach, except 
Alexander, the son of John Cathanach, and Agnes Flach, who 
concealed themselves in the glens of Ireland. Mac-Cean, hear- 
ing of their hiding-places, went to cut down the woods of these 
glens, in order to destroy Alexander, and extirpate the whole 
race. At length M'Cean and Alexander met, were reconciled, 
and a marriage alliance took place; Alexander married Mac- 
Cean's daughter, and she brought him good children. The Mac- 
Donalds of the north had also descendants ; for, after the death 
of John, Lord of the Isles, and Earl of Ross, and the murder of 
Angus, Alexander, the son of Archibald, the son of Alexander of 
the Isles, took possession, and John was in possession of the earl- 
dom of Ross, and the north bordering country ; he married a 
daughter of the Earl of Moray, of whom some of the men of the 
north had descended. The Mac-Kenzies rose against Alexander, 
and fought the battle called Blar na Paire. Alexander had only 
a few of the men of Ross at the battle. He went after that bat- 
tle to take possession of the Isles, and sailed in a ship to the south 
to see if he could find any of the posterity of John Mor alive, to 
rise along with him ; but Mac-Cean of Ardnamurchan watched 
him as he sailed past, followed him to Oransay and Colonsay, 
went to the house where he was, and he and Alexander, son of 
John Cathanach, murdered him there. 

" A good while after these things fell out, Donald Galda, son 
of Alexander, son of Archibald, became major ; he, with the 
advice and direction of the Earl of Moray, came to the Isles, and 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 233 

Mac-Leod of the Lewis, and many of the gentry of the Isles, 
rose with him: they went by the promontory of Ardnamurchan, 
where they met Alexander, the son of John Cathanach, were 
reconciled to him, he joined his men with theirs against Mac- 
Cean of Ardnamurchan, came upon him at a place called the 
Silver Craig, where he and his three sons, and a great number 
of his people, were killed, and Donald Galda was immediately 
declared Mac-Donald : And, after the affair of Ardnamurchan, all 
the men of the Isles yielded to him, but he did not live above 
seven or eight weeks after it ; he died at Carnaborg, in Mull, 
without issue. He had three sisters' daughters of Alexander, 
son of Archibald, who were portioned in the north upon the conti- 
nent, but the earldom of Ross was kept for them. Alexander, 
the son of Archibald, had a natural son, called John Cam, of 
whom is descended Achnacoichan, in Ramoeh, and Donald Gorm, 
son of Ronald, son of Alexander Duson, of John Cam. Donald 
Du, son of Angus, son of John of the Isles, son of Alexander of 
the Isles, son of Donald of the Isles, son of John of the Isles, 
son of Angus Og, namely, the true heir of the Isles and Ross, 
came after his release from captivity to the Isles, and convened 
the men thereof, and he and the Earl of Lennox agreed to raise 
a great army for the purpose of taking possession, and a ship 
came from England with a supply of money to carry on the war, 
which landed at Mull, and the money was given to Mac-Lean of 
Duart to be distributed among the commanders of the army, 
which they not receiving in proportion as it should have been 
distributed among them, caused the army to disperse, which, 
when the Earl of Lennox heard, he disbanded his own men, and 
made it up with the King. Mac-Donald went to Ireland to raise 
men, but he died on his way to Dublin, at Drogheda, of a fever, 
without issue of either sons or daughters." 

In this history may be traced, though the Bard, or Seannachie, 
touches such a delicate discussion with a gentle hand, the point 
of difference between the three principal septs descended from 
the Lords of the Isles. The first question, and one of no easy 
solution, where so little evidence is produced, respects the nature 
of the connexion of John, called by the Archdean of the Isles 
" the Good John of Ila," and " the last Lord of the Isles," with 
Anne, daughter of Roderick Mac-Dougal, high-chief of Lorn. 
20* 



234 APPENDIX TO THE 

In the absence of positive evidence, presumptive must be resorted 
to, and I own it appears to render it in the highest degree impro- 
bable that this connexion was otherwise than legitimate. In the 
wars between David II. and Edward Baliol, John of the Isles 
espoused the Baliol interest, to which he was probably deter- 
mined by his alliance with Roderick of Lorn, wiio was, from 
every family predilection, friendly to Baliol and hostile to Bruce. 
It seems absurd to suppose, that between two chiefs of the same 
descent, and nearly equal power and rank, (though the Mac- 
Dougals had been much crushed by Robert Bruce,) such a con- 
nexion should have been that of concubinage ; and it appears 
more likely that the tempting offer of an alliance with the Bruce 
family, when they had obtained the decided superiority in Scot- 
land, induced " the good John of Ila" to disinherit, to a certain 
extent, his eldest son Ronald, who came of a stock so unpopular 
as the Mac-Dougals, and to call to his succession his younger 
family, born of Margaret Stuart, daughter of Robert, afterwards 
King of Scotland. The setting aside of this elder branch of his 
family, was most probably a condition of his new alliance, and 
his being received into favour with the dynasty he had always 
opposed. Nor were the laws of succession at this early period so 
clearly understood as to bar such transactions. The numerous 
and strange claims set up to the crown of Scotland, when vacant 
by the death of Alexander III., make it manifest how very little 
the indefeasible hereditary right of primogeniture was valued at 
that period. In fact, the title of the Bruces themselves to the 
crown, though justly the most popular, when assumed with the 
determination of asserting the independence of Scotland, was, 
upon pure principle, greatly inferior to that of Baliol. For Bruce, 
the competitor, claimed as son of Isabella, second daughter of 
David, Earl of Huntingdon ; and John Baliol, as grandson of 
Margaret, the elder daughter of that same earl. So that the plea 
of Bruce was founded upon the very loose idea, that as the great 
grandson of David I., King of Scotland, and the nearest collateral 
relation of Alexander III., he was entitled to succeed in exclu- 
sion of the great great grandson of the same David, though by 
an elder daughter. This maxim savoured of the ancient practice 
of Scotland, which often called a brother to succeed to the crown 
as nearer in blood than a grand-child, or even a son of a deceased 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 235 

monarch. But, in truth, the maxims of inheritance in Scotland 
were sometimes departed from at periods when they were much 
more distinctly understood. Such a transposition took place in 
the family of Hamilton, in 1513, when the descendants of James, 
third Lord, by Lady Janet Home, were set aside, with an appa- 
nage of great value indeed, in order to call to the succession 
those which he had by a subsequent marriage with Janet Beatoun. 
In short, many other examples might be quoted to show that the 
question of legitimacy is not always determined by the fact of 
succession ; and there seems reason to believe that Ronald, 
descendant of " John of Ila," by Ann of Lorn, was legitimate, 
and therefore Lord of the Isles de jure, though de facto his 
younger half-brother Donald, son of his father's second marriage 
with the Princess of Scotland, superseded him in his right, and 
apparently by his own consent. From this Donald so preferred 
is descended the family of Sleat, now Lords Mac-Donald. On 
the other hand, from Ronald, the excluded heir, upon whom a 
very large appanage was settled, descended the chiefs of Glen- 
gary and Clanronald, each of whom had large possessions, and a 
numerous vassalage, and boasted a long descent of warlike 
ancestry. Their common ancestor Ronald was murdered by the 
Earl of Ross, at the Monastery of Elcho, a.d. 1346. I believe it 
has been subject of fierce dispute, w T hether Donald, who carried 
on the line of Glengary, or Allan of Moidart, the ancestor of the 
captains of Clanronald, was the eldest son of Ronald, the son of 
John of Isla. A humble Lowlander may be permitted to waive 
the discussion, since a Sennachie of no small note, who wrote in 
the sixteenth century, expresses himself upon this delicate topic 
in the following words : — 

" I have now given you an account of every thing you can ex- 
pect of the descendants of the clan Colla, (i. e. the Mac-Donalds,) 
to the death of Donald Du at Drogheda, namely, the true line 
of those who possessed the Isles, Ross, and the mountainous 
countries of Scotland. It was Donald, the son of Angus, that 
was killed at Inverness, by his own harper (Mac-i'Cairbre,) son 
of John of the Isles, son of Alexander, son of Donald, son of 
John, son of Angus Og. And I know not which of his kindred 
or relations is the true heir, except these five sons of John, the 
son of Angus Og, whom I here set down for you, namely, Ronald 



236 APPENDIX TO THE 

and Godfrey, the two sons of the daughter of Mac-Donald of 
Lorn, and Donald and John Mor, and Alexander Carrach, the 
three sons of Margaret Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, 
King of Scotland." — Leabhar Dearg. 

Note D. 

The House of Lorn. — Y. 31. 

The House of Lorn, as we observed in a former note, was, like 
the Lord of the Isles, descended from a son of Somerled, slain at 
Renfrew, in 1164. This son obtained the succession of his main- 
land territories, comprehending the greater part of the three 
districts of Lorn, in Argyleshire, and of course might rather be 
considered as petty princes than feudal barons. They assumed 
the patronymic appellation of Mac-Dougal, by which they are 
distinguished in the history of the middle ages. The Lord of 
Lorn, who flourished during the wars of Bruce, was Allaster (or 
Alexander) Mac-Dougal, called Allaster of Argyle. He had 
married the third daughter of John, called the Red Comyn, 1 who 
was slain by Bruce in the Dominican Church at Dumfries, and 
hence he was a mortal enemy of that prince, and more than once 
reduced him to great straits during the early and distressed period 
of his reign, as we shall have repeated occasion to notice. 
Bruce, when he began to obtain an ascendency in Scotland, took 
the first opportunity in his power to requite these injuries. He' 
marched into Argyleshire to lay waste the country. John of 
Lorn, son of the chieftain, was posted with his followers in the 
formidable pass between Dalmally and Bunawe. It is a narrow 
path along the verge of the huge and precipitous mountain, called 
Cruachan Ben, and guarded on the other side by a precipice over- 

iThe aunt, according to Lord Hailes. But the genealogy is distinctly 
given by Wyntoun : — 

" The thryd douchtyr of Red Cwmyn, 
Alysawndyr of Argayle syne 
Tuk, and vveddyt til hys wyf, 
And on hyr he gat in-til hys lyfe 
Jhon of Lome, the quhilk gat 
Ewyn of Lome eftyr that." 

Wyntoun's Chronicles, Book viii., Chap, vi., line 206. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 237 

hanging Loch Awe. The pass seems to the eye of a soldier as 
strong, as it is wild and romantic to that of an ordinary traveller. 
But the skill of Bruce had anticipated this difficulty. While his 
main body, engaged in a skirmish with the men of Lorn, detained 
their attention to the front of their position, James of Douglas, 
with Sir Alexander Fraser, Sir William Wiseman, and Sir 
Andrew Grey, ascended the mountain with a select body of 
archery, and obtained possession of the heights which commanded 
the pass. A volley of arrows descending upon them directly 
warned the Argyleshire men of their perilous situation, and their 
resistance, which had hitherto been bold and manly, was changed 
into a precipitate flight. The deep and rapid river of Awe was 
then (we learn the fact from Barbour with some surprise,) crossed 
by a bridge. This bridge the mountaineers attempted to 
demolish. But Bruce's followers were too close upon their rear ; 
they were, therefore, without refuge and defence, and were dis- 
persed with great slaughter. John of Lorn, suspicious of the 
event, had early betaken himself to the galleys which he had 
upon the lake ; but the feelings which Barbour assigns to him, 
while witnessing the rout and slaughter of his followers, excul- 
pate him from the charge of cowardice. 

" To Jhone off Lome it suld displese 

I trow, quhen he his men mycht se, 

Owte off his schippis fra the se, 

Be slayne and chassyt in the hill, 

That he mycht set na help thar till. 

Bot it angrys als gretumly, 

To gud hartis that ar worthi, 

To se thair fayis fulfill thair will 

As to thaim selff to thole the ill."— B. vii., v. 394. 

After this decisive engagement, Bruce laid waste Argyleshire, 
and besieged Dunstaffhage Castle, on the western shore of Lorn, 
compelled it to surrender, and placed in that principal stronghold 
of the Mac-Dougals a garrison and governor of his own. The 
elder Mac-Dougal, now wearied with the contest, submitted to 
the victor ; but his son, " rebellious," says Barbour, " as he wont 
to be," fled to England by sea. When the wars between the 
Bruce and Baliol factions again broke out in the reign of David 
II., the Lords of Lorn were again found upon the losing side, 






I 



238 APPENDIX TO THE 

owing to their hereditary enmity to the house of Bruce. Accord- 
ingly, upon the issue of that contest, they were deprived by 
David II. and his successor of by far the greater part of their 
extensive territories, which were conferred upon Stewart, called 
the Knight of Lorn. The house of Mac-Dougal continued, 
however, to survive the loss of power, and affords a very rare, 
if not a unique, instance of a family of such unlimited power, 
and so distinguished during the middle ages, surviving the decay 
of their grandeur, and flourishing in a private station. The 
Castle of Dunolly, near Oban, with its dependencies, was the 
principal part of what remained to them, with their right of 
chieftainship over the families of their name and blood. These 
they continued to enjoy until the year 1715, when the representa- 
tive incurred the penalty of forfeiture, for his accession to the 
insurrection of that period ; thus losing the remains of his 
inheritance, to replace upon the throne the descendants of those 
princes, whose accession his ancestors had opposed at the expense 
of their feudal grandeur. The estate was, however, restored 
about 1745, to the father of the present proprietor, whom family 
experience had taught the hazard of interfering with the estab- 
lished government, and who remained quiet upon that occasion. 
He therefore regained his property when many Highland chiefs 
lost theirs. 

Nothing can be more wildly beautiful than the situation of 
Dunolly. The ruins are situated upon a bold and precipitous pro- 
montory, overhanging Loch Etive, and distant about a mile from 
the village and port of Oban. The principal part which remains 
is the donjon or keep ; but fragments of other buildings, over- 
grown with ivy, attest that it had been once a place of import- 
ance, as large apparently as Artornish or Dunstaffhage. These 
fragments enclose a courtyard, of which the keep probably formed 
one side ; the entrance being by a steep ascent from the neck of 
the isthmus, formerly cut across by a moat, and defended doubt- 
less by outworks and a drawbridge. Beneath the castle stands 
the present mansion of the family, having on the one hand Loch 
Etive, with its islands and mountains, on the other two romantic 
eminences tufted with copsewood. There are other accompani- 
ments suited to the scene ; in particular, a huge upright pillar, 
or detached fragment of that sort of rock called plum-pudding 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 239 

stone, upon the shore, about a quarter of a mile from the castle. 
It is called Clachna-cau, or the Dog's Pillar, because Fingal is 
said to have used it as a stake to which he bound his celebrated 
dog Bran. Others say, that when the Lord of the Isles came 
upon a visit to the Lord of Lorn, the dogs brought for his sport 
were kept beside this pillar. Upon the whole, a more delightful 
and romantic spot can scarce be conceived ; and it receives a 
moral interest from the considerations attached to the residence 
of a family once powerful enough to confront and defeat Robert 
Bruce, and now sunk into the shade of private life. It is at pre- 
sent possessed by Patrick Mac-Dougal, Esq., the lineal and undis- 
puted representative of the ancient Lords of Lorn. The heir 
of Dunolly fell lately in Spain, fighting under the Duke of Wel- 
lington, — a death well becoming his ancestry. 

Note E. 

" Fill me the mighty cup" he said, 
"Erst owrCd by royal Somerled." — P. 52. 

A Hebridean drinking cup, of the most ancient and curious 
workmanship, has been long preserved in the Castle of Dunvegan, 
in Skye, the romantic seat of Mac-Leod of Mac-Leod, the chief 
of that ancient and powerful clan. The horn of Rorie More, 
preserved in the same family, and recorded by Dr. Johnson, is not 
to be compared with this piece of antiquity, which is one of the 
greatest curiosities in Scotland. The following is a pretty accu- 
rate description of its shape and dimensions, but cannot, I fear, 
be perfectly understood without a drawing. 

This very curious piece of antiquity is nine inches and three 
quarters in inside depth, and ten and a half in height on the out- 
side, the extreme measure over the lips being four inches and a 
half. The cup is divided into two parts by a wrought ledge, 
beautifully ornamented, about three-fourths of an inch in breadth. 
Beneath this ledge the shape of the cup is rounded off, and ter- 
minates in a flat circle, like that of a tea-cup ; four short feet 
support the whole. Above the projecting ledge the shape of the 
cup is nearly square, projecting outward at the brim. The cup 
is made of wood, (oak to ail appearance,) but most curiously 



240 APPENDIX TO THE 

wrought and embossed with silver work, which projects from the 
vessel. There are a number of regular projecting sockets, which 
appear to have been set with stones ; two or three of them still 
hold pieces of coral, the rest are empty. At the four corners of 
the projecting ledge, or cornice, are four sockets, much larger, 
probably for pebbles or precious stones. The workmanship of 
the silver is extremely elegant, and appears to have been highly 
gilded. The ledge, brim, and legs of the cup, are of silver. 
The -family tradition bears that it was the property of Neil 
Ghlune-dhu, or Black-knee. But who this Neil was, no one pre- 
tends to say. Around the edge of the cup is a legend, perfectly 
legible, in the Saxon black-letter, which seems to run thus : 

m : Joins : Ptfci) : II ffiW : 3PnctptS : IBt : || m* : S&anae : Wild) : || 

llfafna : S&cjrgrietl : || 3Bt : <^pat : Bo : JHm : 23a : || ®lea ■ JHttrra 
*fya: || JFectt: gttlO : 201: Er: 93g ©tltlt: ©fmt : || 

The inscription may run thus at length: Ufo Johanis Mich 
Magni Principis de Hr Manae Vich Liahia Magryneil et spe- 
rat Domino Ihesu dari clementiam illorum opera. Fecit Anno 
Domini 993 Onili Oimi. Which may run in English : Ufo, the 
son of John, the son of Magnus, Prince of Man, the grandson of 
Liahia Macgryneil, trusts in the Lord Jesus that their works 
(i.e. his own and those of his ancestors) will obtain mercy. 
Oneil Oimi made this in the year of God nine hundred and 
ninety-three. 

But this version does not include the puzzling letters hr before 
the word Manae. Within the mouth of the cup the letters Xf)£. 
(Jesus) are repeated four times. From this and other circum- 
stances it would seem to have been a chalice. This circum- 
stance may perhaps account for the use of the two Arabic nume- 
rals 93. These figures were introduced by Pope Sylvester, 
A. D. 991, and might be used in a vessel formed for church ser- 
vice so early as 993. The workmanship of the whole cup is 
extremely elegant, and resembles, I am told, antiques of the 
same nature preserved in Ireland. 

The cups, thus elegantly formed, and highly valued, were by 
no means utensils of mere show. Martin gives the following 
account of the festivals of his time, and I have heard similar 
instances of brutality in the Lowlands at no very distant period. 






LORD OF THE ISLES. 241 

" The manner of drinking used by the chief men of the Isles 
is called in their language Streah, i. e. a Round ; for the com- 
pany sat in a circle, the cup-bearer fill'd the drink round to them, 
and all was drank out, whatever the liquor was, whether strong 
or weak ; they continued drinking sometimes twenty-four, some- 
times forty-eight hours: It was reckoned a piece of manhood to 
drink until they became drunk, and there were two men with a 
barrow attending punctually on such occasions. They stood at 
the door until some became drunk, and they carry'd them upon 
the barrow to bed, and returned again to their post as long as 
any continued fresh, and so carried off the whole company, one 
by one, as they became drunk. Several of my acquaintance 
have been witnesses to this custom of drinking, but it is now 
abolished." 

This savage custom was not entirely done away within this 
last generation. I have heard of a gentleman who happened to 
be a water-drinker, and was permitted to abstain from the strong 
potations of the company. The bearers carried away one man 
after another, till no one was left but this Scottish Mirglip. They 
then came to do him the same good office, which, however, he 
declined as unnecessary, and proposed to walk to his bedroom. 
It was. a permission he could not obtain. Never such a thing 
had happened, they said, in the castle ! that it was impossible 
but he must require their assistance, at any rate he must submit 
to receive it ; and carried him off in the barrow accordingly. A 
classical penalty was sometimes imposed on those who baulked 
the rules of good fellowship by evading their share of the ban- 
quet. The same author continues : — 

" Among persons of distinction it was reckoned an affront put 
upon any company to broach a piece of wine, ale, or aquavitae, 
and not to see it all drank out at one meeting. If any man 
chance to go out from the company, though but for a few 
minutes, he is obliged, upon his return, and before he take his 
seat, to make an apology for his absence in rhyme ; which if he 
cannot perform, he is liable to such a share of the reckoning as 
the company thinks fit to impose : which custom obtains in many 
places still, and is called Bianchiz Bard, which, in their language, 
signifies the poe^s congratulating the company." 

Few cups were better, at least more actively, employed in the 
Vol. V. 21 



242 APPENDIX TO THE 

rude hospitality of the period, than those of Dunvegan ; one of 
which we have just described. There is in the Leabhar Dearg, 
a song, intimating the overflowing gratitude of a bard of Clan- 
Ronald, after the exuberance of a Hebridean festival at the pa- 
triarchal fortress of Mac-Leod. The translation being obviously 
very literal, has greatly flattened, as I am informed, the enthu- 
siastic gratitude of the ancient bard ; and it must be owned that 
the works of Homer or Virgil, to say nothing of Mac-Vuirich, 
might have suffered by their transfusion through such a medium. 
It is pretty plain, that when the tribute of poetical praise was 
bestow T ed, the horn of Rorie More had not been inactive. 

Upon Sir Roderic Mor Macleod, by Niall Mor Mac Vuirich. 

" The six nights I remained in the Dunvegan, it w r as not a 
show of hospitality I met with there, but a plentiful feast in thy 
fair hall among thy numerous host of heroes. 

" The family placed all around under the protection of their 
great chief, raised by his prosperity and respect for his warlike 
feats, now enjoying the company of his friends at the feast, — 
Amidst the sound of harps, overflowing cups, and happy youth 
unaccustomed to guile, or feud, partaking of the generous fare 
by a flaming fire. 

" Mighty Chief, liberal to all in your princely mansidh, filled 
with your numerous warlike host, whose generous wine w 7 ould 
overcome the hardiest heroes, yet we continued to enjoy the 
feast, so happy our host, so generous our fare." — Translated by 
D. Macintosh. 

It would be unpardonable in a modern bard, who has experien- 
ced the hospitality of Dunvegan Castle in the present day, to 
omit paying his own tribute of gratitude for a reception more 
elegant indeed, but not less kindly sincere, than Sir Roderick 
More himself could have afforded. But Johnson has already 
described a similar scene in the same ancient patriarchal resi- 
dence of the Lords of Mac-Leod : — " Whatever is imaged in the 
wildest tales, if giants, dragons, and enchantment be excepted, 
would be felt by him, who, wandering in the mountains without 
a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be carried, 
amidst his terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and elegance 
of Raasay or Dunvegan." 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 243 

Note F. 

The Broach of Lorn.— P. 58. 

It has been generally mentioned in the preceding notes, that 
Robert Bruce, after his defeat at Methven, being hard pressed 
by the English, endeavoured, with the dispirited remnant of his 
followers, to escape from Breadalbane and the mountains of 
Perthshire into the Argyleshire Highlands. But he was encoun- 
tered and repulsed, after a very severe engagement, by the Lord 
of Lorn. Bruce's personal strength and courage were never dis- 
played to greater advantage than in this conflict. There is a 
tradition in the family of the Mac-Dougals of Lorn, that their 
chieftain engaged in personal battle with Bruce himself, while 
the latter was employed in protecting the retreat of his men ; 
that Mac-Dougal was struck down by the king, whose strength 
of body was equal to his vigour of mind, and would have been 
slain on the spot, had not tw 7 o of Lorn's vassals, a father and son, 
whom tradition terms M'Keoch, rescued him, by seizing the 
mantle of the monarch, and dragging him from above his adver- 
sary. Bruce rid himself of these foes by two blows of his 
redoubted battle-axe, but was so closely pressed by the other fol- 
lowers of Lorn, that he was forced to abandon the mantle, and 
broach which fastened it, clasped in the dying grasp of the Mac- 
Keochs. A studded broach, said to have been that which King 
Robert lost upon this occasion, was long preserved in the family 
of Mac-Dougal, and was lost in a fire which consumed their 
temporary residence. 

The metrical history of Barbour throws an air of credibility 
upon the tradition, although it does not entirely coincide either 
in the names or number of the vassals by whom Bruce was 
assailed, and makes no mention of the personal danger of Lorn, 
or of the loss of Bruce's mantle. The last circumstance, indeed, 
might be warrantably omitted. 

According to Barbour, the King, with his handful of followers, 
not amounting probably to three hundred men, encountered Lorn 
with about a thousand Argyleshire men, in Glen-Douchart, at 
the head of Breadalbane, near Teyndrum. The place of action 



244 APPENDIX TO THE 

is still called Dairy, or the King's Field. The field of battle 
was unfavourable to Brace's adherents, who were chiefly men- 
at-arms. Many of the horses were slain by the long pole-axes, 
of which the Argyleshire Scottish had learned the use from the 
Norwegians. At length Brace commanded a retreat up a nar- 
row and difficult pass, he himself bringing up the rear, and 
repeatedly turning and driving back the more venturous assail- 
ants. Lorn, observing the skill and valour used by his enemy in 
protecting the retreat of his followers, "Methinks, Murthokson," 
said he, addressing one of his followers, "he resembles Gol 
Mak-morn, protecting his followers from Fingal." — U A most 
unworthy comparison," observes the Archdeacon of Aberdeen, 
unsuspicious of the future fame of these names ; " he might with 
more propriety have compared the King to Sir Gaudefer de 
Layrs, protecting the foragers of Gadyrs against the attacks of 
Alexander." * Two brothers, the strongest among Lorn's follow- 
ers, whose names Barbour calls Mackyn-Drosser, (interpreted 
Durward, or Porterson,) resolved to rid their chief of this for- 
midable foe. A third person (perhaps the Mac-Keoch of the 
family tradition) associated himself with them for this purpose. 
They watched their opportunity until Bruce's party had entered 
a pass between a lake (Loch Dochart probably) and a precipice, 
where the King, who was the last of the party, had scarce room 
to manage his steed. Here his three foes sprung upon him at 
once. One seized his bridle, but received a w r ound which hewed 
off his arm ; a second grasped Bruce by the stirrup and leg, and 
endeavoured to dismount him, but the King, putting spurs to his 
horse, threw him down, still holding by the stirrup. The third, 
taking advantage of an acclivity, sprung up behind him upon 
his horse. Bruce, however, whose personal strength is uniform- 
ly mentioned as exceeding that of most men, extricated himself 



i " This is a very curious passage, and has been often quoted in the Ossianic 
controversy. That it refers to ancient Celtic tradition, there can be no doubt, 
and as little that it refers to no incident in the poems published by Mr. Mac- 
pherson as from the Gaelic. The hero of romance, whom Barbour thinks a 
more proper prototype for the Bruce, occurs in the romance of Alexander, of 
which there is a unique translation into Scottish verse, in the library of the 
Honourable Mr. Maule of Panmure." — See Weber's Romances, vol. i. Appen 
dix to Introduction, p. lxxiii. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 245 

from his grasp, threw him to the ground, and cleft his skull with 
his sword. By similar exertion he drew the stirrup from his 
grasp whom he had overthrown, and killed him also with his 
sword as he lay among the horse's feet. The story seems 
romantic, but this was the age of romantic exploit ; and it must 
be remembered that Bruce was armed cap-a-pie, and the assail- 
ants were half-clad mountaineers. Barbour adds the following 
circumstance, highly characteristic of the sentiments of chivalry. 
Mac-Naughton, a Baron of Cowal, pointed out to the Lord of 
Lorn the deeds of valour which Bruce performed in this memor- 
able retreat, with the highest expressions of admiration. " It 
seems to give thee pleasure," said Lorn, " that he makes such 
havoc among our friends." — " Not so, by my faith," replied Mac- 
Naughton ; " but be he friend or foe who achieves high deeds of 
chivalry, men should bear faithful witness to his valour ; and 
never have I heard of one, who, by his knightly feats, has 
extricated himself from such dangers as have this day surround- 
ed Bruce." 

Note G. 

Vain Kirkpatrick'' s bloody dirk, 
Making sure of murder's work. — P. 60. 

Every reader must recollect that the proximate cause of Bruce's 
asserting his right to the crown of Scotland, was the death of 
John, called the Red Corny n. The causes of this act of vio- 
lence, equally extraordinary from the high rank both of the per- 
petrator and sufferer, and from the place where the slaughter 
was committed, are variously related by the Scottish and English 
historians, and cannot now be ascertained. The fact that they 
met at the high altar of the Minorites, or Greyfriars Church in 
Dumfries, that their difference broke out into high and insulting 
language, and that Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn, 
is certain. Rushing to the door of the church, Bruce met two 
powerful barons, Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, and James de Lind- 
say, who eagerly asked him what tidings'? "Bad tidings," an- 
swered Bruce, u I doubt I have slain Comyn." — " Doubtest thou V 
said Kirkpatrick; "I make sicker," (i. e. sure). With these 
words, he and Lindsay rushed into the church, and despatched 
21* 






246 APPENDIX TO THE 

the wounded Comyn. The Kirkpatricks of Closeburn assumed, 
in memory of this deed, a hand holding a dagger, with the 
memorable words, " I make sicker." Some doubt having been 
started by the late Lord Hailes as to the identity of the Kirkpa- 
trick who completed this day's work with Sir Roger, then repre- 
sentative of the ancient family of Closeburn, my kind and inge- 
nious friend, Mr. Charles Kirkpatricke Sharpe, has furnished me 
with the following memorandum, which appears to fix the deed 
with his ancestor : — 

" The circumstances of the Regent Cummin's murder, from 
which the family of Kirkpatrick, in Nithsdale, is said to have 
derived its crest and motto, are well known to all conversant 
with Scottish history ; but Lord Hailes has started a doubt as to 
the authenticity of this tradition, when recording the murder of 
Roger Kirkpatrick, in his own Castle of Caerlaverock, by Sir 
James Lindsay. ' Fordun,' says his Lordship, ■ remarks that 
Lindsay and Kirkpatrick were the heirs of the two men who 
accompanied Robert Brus at the fatal conference with Comyn. 
If Fordun was rightly informed as to this particular, an argu- 
ment arises, in support of a notion which I have long entertained, 
that the person who struck his dagger in Comyn's heart, was not 
the representative of the honourable family of Kirkpatrick in 
Nithsdale. Roger de K. was made prisoner at the battle of Dur- 
ham, in 1346. Roger de Kirkpatrick was alive on the 6th of 
August, 1357 ; for, on that day, Humphry, the son and heir of 
Roger de K., is proposed as one of the j^oung gentlemen who 
were to be hostages for David Bruce. Roger de K. Miles was 
present at the Parliament held at Edinburgh, 25th September, 
1357, and he is mentioned as alive 3d October, 1357, (Fczdera;) 
it follows, of necessary consequence, that Roger de K., murdered 
in June, 1357, must have been a different person.' — Annals of 
Scotland, vol. ii. p. 242. 

" To this it may be answered, that at the period of the regent's 
murder, there were only two families of the name of Kirkpatrick 
(nearly allied to each other) in existence — Stephen Kirkpatrick, 
styled in the Chartulary of Kelso (1278) Dominus villa de Close- 
burn, Filius et hares Domini Ade de Kirkpatrick, Militis, (whose 
father, Ivone de Kirkpatrick, witnesses a charter of Robert Brus, 
Lord of Annandale, before the year 1141,) had two sons, Sir Ro- 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 247 

ger, who carried on the line of Closeburn, and .Duncan, who 
married Isobel, daughter and heiress of Sir David Torthorwald 
of that Ilk ; they had a charter of the lands of Torthorwald from 
King Robert Brus, dated 10th August, the year being omitted— 
Umphray, the son of Duncan and Isobel, got a charter of Tor- 
thorwald from the king, 16th July, 1322 — his son, Roger of Tor- 
thorwald, got a charter from John the Grahame, son of Sir John 
Grahame of Mosskessen, of an annual rent of 40 shillings, out 
of the lands of Overdryft, 1355— his son, William Kirkpatrick, 
grants a charter to John of Garroch, of the twa merk land of 
Glengip and Garvellgill, within the tenement of Wamphray, 22d 
April, 1372. From this, it appears that the Torthorwald branch 
was not concerned in the affair of Comyn's murder, and the 
inflictions of Providence which ensued : Duncan Kirkpatrick, if 
we are to believe the Blind Minstrel, was the firm friend of Wal- 
lace, to whom he was related : — 

*Ane Kyrk Patrick, that cruel was and keyne, 
In Esdaiil wod that half yer he had beyne ; 
With Ingliss men he couth nocht weyil accord, 
Off Torthorowald he Barron was and Lord, 
Off kyn he was, and Wallace modyr ner ;' — &c. 

B. v., v. 920. 

But this Baron seems to have had no share in the adventures of 
King Robert ; the crest of his family, as it still remains on a 
carved stone built into a cottage wall, in the village of Torthor- 
wald, bears some resemblance, says Grose, to a rose. 

" Universal tradition, and all our later historians, have attri- 
buted the regent's death-blow to Sir Roger K. of Closeburn, 
The author of the MS. History of the Presbytery of Penpont, in 
the Advocates' Library, affirms, that the crest and motto were 
given by the king on that occasion ; and proceeds to relate some 
circumstances respecting a grant to a cottager and his wife in 
the vicinity of Closeburn Castle, which are certainly authentic, 
and strongly vouch for the truth of the other report. — * The 
steep hill,' (says he,) ' called the Dune of Tynron, of a consider- 
able height, upon the top of which there hath been some habita- 
tion or fort. There have been in ancient times, on all hands of 
it, very thick woods, and great about that place, which made it 
the more inaccessible, into which K. Ro. Bruce is said to have 



248 APPENDIX TO THE 

been conducted by Roger Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, after they ps 
had killed the Cumin at Dumfriess, which is nine miles from this 
place, whereabout it is probable that he did abide for some time 
thereafter ; and it is reported, that during his abode there, he did 
often divert to a poor man's cottage, named Brownrig, situate in 
a small parcel of stoney ground, incompassed with thick woods, 
where he was content sometimes with such mean accommoda- 
tion as the place could afford. The poor man's wife being advised 
to petition the king for somewhat, was so modest in her desires, 
that she sought no more but security for the croft in her hus- 
band's possession, and a liberty of pasturage for a very few cattle 
of different kinds on the hill, and the rest of the bounds. Of 
which priviledge that ancient family, by the injury of time, hath 
a long time been, and is, deprived : but the croft continues in the 
possession of the heirs and successours lineally descended of this 
Brownrig and his wife ; so that this family, being more ancient 
than rich, doth yet continue in the name, and, as they say, retains 
the old charter." — MS. History of the Presbytery of Penpont? 
in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh. 

Note EL 

Where's Nigel Bruce? and De la Haye, 
And valiant Seton — where are they? 
Where Somerville, the kind and free? 
And Fraser, flower of chivalry 7 — P. 72. 

When these lines were written, the author was remote from 
the means of correcting his indistinct recollection concerning the 
individual fate of Bruce's followers, after the battle of Methven. 
Hugh de la Haye, and Thomas Somerville of Lintoun and Cow- 
dally, ancestor of Lord Somerville, were both made prisoners at 
that defeat, but neither was executed. 

Sir Nigel Bruce was the younger brother of Robert, to whom 
he committed the charge of his wife and daughter, Marjorie, and 
the defence of his strong castle of Kildrummie, near the head of 
the Don, in Aberdeenshire. Kildrummie long resisted the arms 
of the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford, until the magazine was 
treacherously burnt. The garrison was then compelled to sur- 
render at discretion, and Nigel Bruce, a youth remarkable for 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 249 

personal beauty, as well as for gallantry, fell into the hands of the 
unrelenting Edward. He was tried by a special commission at 
Berwick, was condemned, and executed. 

Christopher Seatoun shared the same unfortunate fate. He 
also was distinguished by personal valour, and signalized himself 
in the fatal battle of Methven. Robert Bruce adventured his 
person in that battle like a knight of romance. He dismounted 
Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, but was in his turn dis- 
mounted by Sir Philip Mowbray. In this emergence Seatoun 
came to his aid, and remounted him. Langtoft mentions, that in 
this battle the Scottish wore white surplices, or shirts, over their 
armour, that those of rank might not be known. In this manner 
both Bruce and Seatoun escaped. But the latter was afterwards 
betrayed to the English, through means, according to Barbour, 
of one Mac- Nab, "a disciple of Judas," in whom the unfortunate 
knight reposed entire confidence. There was some peculiarity 
respecting his punishment ; because, according to Matthew of 
Westminster, he was considered not as a Scottish subject, but an 
Englishman. He was therefore taken to Dumfries, where he 
was tried, condemned, and executed, for the murder of a soldier 
slain by him. His brother, John de Seton, had the same fate at 
Newcastle ; both were considered as accomplices in the slaugh- 
ter of Comyn, but in what manner they were particularly acces- 
sary to that deed does not appear. 

The fate of Sir Simon Frazer, or Frizel, ancestor of the family 
of Lovat, is dwelt upon at great length, and with savage exulta- 
tion, by the English historians. This knight, who was renowned 
for personal gallantry, and high deeds of chivalry, was also made 
prisoner, after a gallant defence, in the battle of Methven. Some 
stanzas of a ballad of the times, which, for the sake of rendering 
it intelligible, I have translated out of its rude orthography, give 
minute particulars of his fate. It was written immediately at 
the period, for it mentions the Earl of Athole as not yet in cus- 
tody. It was first published by the indefatigable Mr. Ritson, but 
with so many contractions and peculiarities of character, as to 
render it illegible, excepting by antiquaries. 

"This was before saint Bartholomew's mass, 
That Frizel was y-taken, were it more other less, 



25Ch APPENDIX TO THE 

Te Sir Thomas of Multon, gentil baron and free,- 
And to Sir Johan Jose be-take tho was he 

To hand 
He was y-fettered wele 
Both with iron and with steel 

To bringen of Scotland! 

"Soon thereafter the tiding to the king come, 
He sent him to London, with mony armed groom,. 
He came in at Newgate, I tell you it on a-plight, 
A garland of leaves on his head y-dight 

Of green, 
For he should be y-know 
Both of high and of low, 

For traitour I ween* 

"Y-fettered were his legs under his horse's wombe, 
Both with iron and with steel mancled were his hond, 
A garland of pervynk ' set upon his heved, 2 
Much was the power that him was bereved, 

In land. 
So God me amend, 
Little he ween'd 

So to be brought in hand. 

" This was upon our lady's even, forsooth I understand, 
The justices sate for the knights of Scotland, 
Sir Thomas of Multon, an kinde knyght and wise, 
And Sir Ralph of Sandwich that mickle is told in price 

And Sir Johan Abel„ 
Moe I might tell by tale 
Both of great and of small 

Ye know sooth well 

"Then said the justice, that gentil is and free, 
Sir Simond Frizel the king's traiter hast thou be ; 
In water and in land that mony mighten see, 
What sayst thou thereto, how will thou quite thee,. 

Do say, 
So foul he him wist, 
Nede war on trust 

For to say nay. 



1 Periwinckle. * HeatL 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 251 

"With fetters and with gives 1 y-hot he was to- draw 
From the tower of London that many men might know* 
In a kirtle of burel, a sel couth wise, 
And a garland on his head of the new guise. 

Through Cheape 
Many men of England 
For to see Symond 

Thitherward can leap. 

*' Though he cam to the gallows first he was on hung, 
All quick beheaded that him thought long; 
Then he was y-opened, his bowels y-brend, 2 
The heved to London-bridge was send 

To shende. 
So evermore mote I the, 
Some while weened he 

Thus Uttle to stand. 8 

*'He rideth through the city, as I tell may, 
With gamen and with solace that was their play, 
To London-bridge he took the way, 
Mony was the wives child that thereon lacketh a day,* 

And said, alas! 
That he was y-born 
And so vilely forlorn. 

So fair man he was. 5 

*Now standeth the heved above the tu-brigge, 
Fast by Wallace sooth for to segge; 
After succour of Scotland long may he pry, 
And after help of France what halt it to lie, 

I ween, 
Better him were in Scotland, 
With his axe in his hand, 

To play on the green," &c. 

The preceding stanzas contain probably as minute an account 
as can be found of the trial and execution of state criminals of 
the period. Superstition mingled its horrors with those of a fero- 
cious state policy, as appears from the following singular narra- 
tive. 



1 He was condemned to be drawn. — * Burned. — 3 Meaning, at one time he 
little thought to stand thus. — « viz. Saith Lack-a-day. — 5 The gallant knight, 
like others in the same situation, was pitied by the female spectators as " a 
proper young man." 



252 APPENDIX TO THE 

" The Friday next, before the assumption of Our Lady, King 
Edward met Robert the Bruce at Saint Johnstoune, in Scotland, 
and with his company, of which company King Edward quelde 
seven thousand. When Robert the Bruce saw this mischief, and 
gan to flee, and hov'd him that men might not him find ; but S. 
Simond Frisell pursued was so sore, so that he turned again and 
abode bataille, for he was a worthy knight and a bolde of bodye, 
and the Englishmen pursuede him sore on every side, and quelde 
the steed that Sir Simon Frisell rode upon, and then toke him 
and led him to the host. And S. Symond began for to flatter and 
speke fair, and saide, Lordys, I shall give you four thousand 
markes of silver, and myne horse and harness, and all my armoure 
and income. Tho' answered Thobaude of Pevenes, that was the 
kinges archer, Now, God me so helpe, it is for nought that thou 
speakest, for all the gold of England I would not let thee go 
without commandment of King Edward. And tho' he was led 
to the King, and the King would not see him, but commanded to 
lead him away to his doom in London, on Our Lady's even nati- 
vity. And he was hung and drawn, and his head smitten off, 
and hanged again with chains of iron upon the gallows, and his 
head was set at London-bridge upon a spear, and against Christ- 
mas the body was burnt, for encheson (reason) that the men that 
keeped the body saw many devils ramping with iron crooks, run- 
ning upon the gallows, and horribly tormenting the body. And 
many that them saw, anon thereafter died for dread, or waxen 
mad, or sore sickness they had." — MS. Chronicle in the British 
Museum, quoted by Ritson. 



Note I 

I feel within mine aged breast 
A power that will not be repre 



repressed. — P. 78. 



Bruce, like other heroes, observed omens, and one is recorded 
by tradition. After he had retreated to one of the miserable 
places of shelter, in which he could venture to take some repose 
after his disasters, he lay stretched upon a handful of straw, and 
abandoned himself to his melancholy meditations. He had now 
been defeated four times, and was upon the point of resolving to 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 253 

abandon all hopes of further opposition to his fate, and to go to 
the Holy Land. It chanced his eye, while he was thus ponder- 
ing, was attracted by the exertions of a spider, who, in order to 
fix his web, endeavoured to swing himself from one beam to 
another above his head. Involuntarily he became interested in 
the pertinacity with which the insect renewed his exertions, 
after failing six times ; and it occurred to him that he would 
decide his own course according to the success or failure of the 
spider. At the seventh effort the insect gained his object ; and 
Bruce, in like manner, persevered and carried his own. Hence 
it has been held unlucky or ungrateful, or both, in one of the 
name of Bruce to kill a spider. 

The archdeacon of Aberdeen, instead of the abbot of this tale, 
introduces an Irish Pythoness, Who not only predicted his good 
fortune as he left the island of Rachrin, but sent her two sons 
along with him, to ensure her own family a share in it 

"Then in schort time men mycht thaim se 

Schute all thair galayis to the se, 

And ber to se baith ayr and ster, 

And othyr thingis that mystir • wer. 

And as the king apon the sand 

Wes gangand wp and doun, bidand* 

Till that his menye redy war, 

His ost come rycht till him thar. 

And quhen that seho him halyst had, 

And priwe spek till him scho made; 

And said, 'Takis gud kep till my saw 

For or ye pass I sail yow schaw, 

Off your fortoun a gret party. 

Bot our all speceally 

A wyttring her I sail yow ma, 

Quhat end that your purposs sail ta. 

For in this land is nane trewly 

Wate thingis to cum sa weill as I. 

Ye pass now furth on your wiage, 

To w r enge the harme, and the owtrag, 

That Ingliss men has to yow done; 

Bot ye wat nocht quhatkyne fbrton 

Ye mon drey in your werraying. 

Bot wyt ye weill, with outyn lesing, 

1 Need. a Abiding. 

Vol. V. 22 



254 APPENDIX TO THE 

That fra ye now haiff takyn land, 

Nane sa mychty, na sa strength thi of hand, 

Sail ger yow pass owt of your countre 

Till all to yow abandownyt be. 

With in schort tyme ye sail be king, 

And haiff the land at your liking, 

And ourcum your fayis all. 

Bot fele anoyis thole ye sail, 

Or that your purposs end haiff tane : 

Bot ye sail thaim ourdryve ilkane. 

And, that ye trow this sekyrly, 

My twa sonnys with yow sail I 

Send to tak part of your trawaill ,* 

For I wate weill thai sail nocht fail! 

To be rewardyt weill at rycht, 

Quhen ye ar heyit to yowr invent.' " 

Barbour's Bruce, Book iii., v. 856. 



Note K. 

A hunted wanderer on the wild, 

On foreign shores a man exiled. — P. 78. 

This is not metaphorical. The echoes of Scotland did actually 



• " ring 



With the bloodhounds that bayed for her fugitive king." 

A very curious and romantic tale is told by Barbour upon this I \ 
subject, which may be abridged as follows : — 

When Bruce had again got footing in Scotland in the spring r 
of 1306, he continued to be in a very weak and precarious con- 
dition, gaining, indeed, occasional advantages, but obliged to fly 
before his enemies whenever they assembled in force. Upon one 
occasion, while he was lying with a small party in the wilds of 
Cumnock, in Ayrshire, Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, 
with his inveterate foe John of Lorn, came against him suddenly 
with eight hundred Highlanders, besides a large body of men-at- 
arms. They brought with them a slough-dog, or bloodhound, a 
which, some say, had been once a favourite with the Bruce him- p 
self, and therefore was least likely to lose the trace. 

Bruce, whose force was under four hundred men, continued to Ifc 
make head against the cavalry, till the men of Lorn had nearly :% 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 255 

cut off his retreat. Perceiving the danger of his situation, he 
acted as the celebrated and ill-requited Mina is said to have done 
in similar circumstances. He divided his force into three parts, 
appointed a place of rendezvous, and commanded them to retreat 
by different routes. But when John of Lorn arrived at the spot 
where they divided, he caused the hound to be put upon the 
trace, which immediately directed him to the pursuit of that party 
which Bruce headed. This, therefore, Lorn pursued with his 
whole force, paying no attention to the others. The king again 
subdivided his small body into three parts, and with the same 
result, for the pursuers attached themselves exclusively to that 
which he led in person. He then caused his followers to disperse, 
and retained only his foster-brother in his company. The slough- 
dog followed the trace, and, neglecting the others, attached him- 
self and his attendants to pursuit of the king. Lorn became 
convinced that his enemy was nearly in his power, and detached 
five of his most active attendants to follow him, and interrupt his 
flight. They did so with all the agility of mountaineers. " What 
aid wilt thou make 1" said Bruce to his single attendant, when 
he saw the five men gain ground on him, " The best I can," 
replied his foster-brother. " Then," said Bruce, " here I make 
my stand." The five pursuers came up fast. The king took 
three to himself, leaving the other two to his foster-brother. He 
slew the first who encountered him; but observing his foster- 
brother hard pressed, he sprung to his assistance, and despatched 
one of his assailants. Leaving him to deal with the survivor, he 
returned upon the other two, both of whom he slew before his 
foster-brother had despatched his single antagonist. When this 
hard encounter was over, with a courtesy, which in the whole 
work marks Bruce's character, he thanked his foster-brother for 
his aid. " It likes you to say so," answered his follower ; " but 
you yourself slew four of the five." — "True," said the king, "but 
only because I had better opportunity than you. They were not 
apprehensive of me when they saw me encounter three, so I had 
a moment's time to spring to thy aid, and to return equally unex- 
pectedly upon my own opponents." 

In the meanwhile Lorn's party approaehed rapidly, and the 
king and his foster-brother betook themselves to a neighbouring 
wood. Here they sat down, for Bruce was exhausted by fatigue, 



256 APPENDIX TO THE 

until the cry of the slough-hound came so near, that his foster- 
brother entreated Bruce to provide for his safety by retreating 
further. " I have heard," answered the king r " that whosoever 
will wade a bowshot length down a running stream, shall make 
the slough-hound lose scent. — Let us try the experiment, for 
were yon devilish hound silenced^ I should care little for the 
rest." 

Lorn in the meanwhile advanced, and found the bodies of his 
slain vassals, over whom he made his moan, and threatened the 
most deadly vengeance. Then he followed the hound to the side 
of the brook, down which the king had waded a great way. 
Here the hound was at fault, and John of Lorn, after long 
attempting in vain to recover Bruce's trace, relinquished the 
pursuit. 

" Others," says Barbour, " affirm, that upon this occasion the 
king T s life was saved by an excellent archer who accompanied 
him, and who perceiving they would be finally taken by means 
of the blood-hound r hid himself in a thicket, and shot him with 
an arrow. In which way," adds the metrical biographer, " this 
escape happened I am uncertain, but at that brook the king 
escaped from his pursuers." 

" Quhen the chasseris relyit war, 
And Jhon of Lorn had met thaim thar, 
He tauld Schyr Aymer all the eass 
How that the king eschapyt wass ; 
And how that he his five men slew, 
And syne to the wode him drew. 
Quhen Schyr Aymer herd this, in hy 
He sanyt him for the ferly: 
And said; 'He is gretly to pryss; 
For I knaw nane that lirTand is, 
That at myscheyff gan help him swa. 
I trow he suld be hard to sla, 
And he war bodyn ! ewynly.' 
On this wiss spak Schyr Aymery." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book v., v. 391- 

The English historians agree with Barbour as to the mode in 
which the English pursued Bruce and his followers, and the dex- 

i Matched. 



LORD OF THE ISLES, 257 

terity with which he evaded them. The following is the testi- 
mony of Harding, a great enemy to the Scottish nation : — 

"The King Edward with hoost hym sought full sore, 
But ay he fled into woodes and stray te forest, 
And slewe his men at staytes and daungers thore, 
And at marreys and mires was ay full prest 
Englyshmen to kyll withoutyn any rest; 
In the mountaynes and cragges he slew ay where, 
And in the nyght his foes he frayed full sere: 

* The King Edward with homes and houndes him soght, 
With menne on fote, through marris, mosse, and myre, 
Through wodes also, and mountens (wher thei fought,} 
And euer the Kyng Edward hight men greate hyre, 
Hym for to take and by myght conquere; 
But thei might hym not gette by force ne by train, 
He satte by the fyre when thei went in the rain." 

Hardyng's Chronicle, p. 303-4. 

Peter Langtoft has also a passage concerning the extremities 
to which King Robert was reduced, which he entitles 

De Roberto Brus el fuga vircum circa JiU 

"And wele I understode that the Kyng Robyn 

Has drunken of that blode the drink of Dan Waryn. 

Dan Waryn he les tounes that he held, 

With wrong he mad a res, and misberyng of scheld, 

Sithen into the forest he yede naked and wode, 

AIs a wild beast, ete of the gres that stode, 

Thus of Dan Waryn in his boke men rede, 

God gyf the King Robyn, that alle his kynde so spede, 

Sir Robynet the Brus he durst noure abide, 

That thei mad him restus, both in more and wod-side, 

To white he mad this train, and did umwhile outrage," &c. 

Peter Langtoft's Chronicle, vol. ii., p. 335, 
8vo, London, 1810. 

Note L. 

These are the savage vnlds that lie 

North of Strathnardill and Dunskye. — P. 108. 

The extraordinary piece of scenery which I have here attempt- 
ed to describe, is, I think, unparalleled in any part of Scotland, 
22* 



258 APPENDIX TO THE 

at least in any which I have happened to visit. It lies just upon? 
the frontier of the Laird of Mac-Leod's country, which is there- 
abouts divided from the estate of Mr. Maccallister of Strath- 
Aird, called Strathnardill by the Dean of the Isles. The follow- 
ing account of it is extracted from a journal ] kept during a tour 
through the Scottish islands : — 

" The western coast of Sky is highly romantic, and at the 
same time displays a richness of vegetation in the lower grounds 
to which we have hitherto been strangers. We passed three 
salt-water lochs, or deep embayments, called Loch Braeadale, 

Loch Einort, and Loch , and about 11 o'clock opened Loch 

Slavig. We were now under the western termination of the 
high ridge of mountains called Guillen, or Quillin, or Coolin, 
whose weather-beaten and serrated peaks we had admired at a 
distance from Dunvegan. They sunk here upon the sea, but 
with the same bold and peremptory aspect which their distant 
appearance indicated. They appeared to consist of precipitous 
sheets of naked rock, down which the torrents were leaping in 
a hundred lines of foam. The tops of the ridge, apparently 
inaccessible to human foot, were rent and split into the most 
tremendous pinnacles. Towards the base of these bare and 
precipitous crags, the ground, enriched by the soil washed down 
from them, is comparatively verdant and productive. Where 
we passed within the small isle of Soa, we entered Loch Slavig, 
under the shoulder of one of these grisly mountains, and observ- 
ed that the opposite side of the loch was of a milder character,, 
the mountains being softened down into steep green declivities. 
From the bottom of the bay advanced a headland of high rocks, 
which divided its depth into two recesses, from each of which 
a brook issued. Here it had been intimated to us we would find 
some romantic scenery; but we were uncertain up which inlet 
we should proceed in search of it. We chose, against our bet- 
ter judgment, the southerly dip of the bay, where we saw a 
house which might afford us information. We found, upon 
enquiry, that there is a lake adjoining to each branch of the 
bay ; and walked a couple of miles to see that near the farm- 
house, merely because the honest Highlander seemed jealous of 

1 [This is the Poet's own journal.— Ed.] 



i 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 259 

the honour of his own loch, though we were speedily convinced 
it was not that which we were recommended to examine. It 
had no particular merit, excepting from its neighbourhood to a 
very high cliff, or precipitous mountain, otherwise the sheet of 
water had nothing differing from any ordinary low-country lake. 
We returned and re-embarked in our boat, for our guide shook 
his head at our proposal to climb over the peninsula, or rocky 
headland which divided the two lakes. In rowing round the 
headland, we were surprised at the infinite number of sea-fowl, 
then busy apparently with a shoal of fish. 

" Arrived at the depth of the bay, we found that the discharge 
from this second lake forms a sort of waterfall, or rather a rapid 
stream, which rushes down to the sea with great fury and pre- 
cipitation. Round this place were assembled hundreds of trouts 
and salmon, struggling to get up into the fresh water : with a 
net we might have had twenty salmon at a haul ; and a sailor, 
with no better hook than a crooked pin, caught a dish of trouts 
during our absence. Advancing up this huddling and riotous 
brook, we found ourselves in a most extraordinary scene; we 
lost sight of the sea almost immediately after we had climbed 
over a low ridge of crags* and were surrounded by mountains of 
naked rock, of the boldest and most precipitous character. The 
ground on which we walked was the margin of a lake, which 
seemed to have sustained the constant ravage of torrents from 
these rude neighbours. The shores consisted of huge strata of 
naked granite, here and there intermixed with bogs, and heaps 
of gravel and sand piled in the empty water-courses. Vegeta- 
tion there was little or none ; and the mountains rose so perpen- 
dicularly from the water edge, that Borrowdale, or even Glencoe, 
is a jest to them. We proceeded a mile and a half up this deep, 
dark, and solitary lake, which was about two miles long, half a 
mile broad, and is, as we learned, of extreme depth. The murky 
vapours which enveloped the mountain ridges, obliged us by 
assuming a thousand varied shapes, changing their drapery into 
all sorts of forms, and sometimes clearing off all together. It is 
true, the mist made us pay the penalty by some heavy and down- 
right showers, from the frequency of which a Highland boy 
whom we brought from the farm, told us the lake was popularly 
called the Water-kettle. The proper name is Loch Corriskin, 



260 APPENDIX TO THE 

from the deep corrie, or hollow, in the mountains of Cuilin, which. 
affords the basin for this wonderful sheet of water. It is as 
exquisite a savage scene as Loch Katrine is a scene of romantic 
beauty. After having penetrated so far as distinctly to observe 
the termination of the lake under an immense precipice, which 
rises abruptly from the water, we returned, and often stopped to 
admire the ravages which storms must have made in these reces- 
ses, when all human witnesses were driven to places of more 
shelter and security. Stones, or rather large masses and frag- 
ments of rocks of a composite kind, perfectly different from the 
strata of the lake, were scattered upon the bare rocky beach, in 
the strangest and most precarious" situations, as if abandoned by 
the torrents which had borne them down from above. Some lay 
loose and tottering upon the ledges of the natural rock, with so 
little security, that the slightest push moved them, though their 
weight might exceed many tons. These detached rocks, or 
stones, were chiefly what is called plum-pudding stones. The 
bare rocks, which formed the shore of the lakes, were a species 
of granite. The opposite side of the lake seemed quite pathless 
and inaccessible, as a huge mountain, one of the detached ridges 
of the Guillen hills, sinks in a profound and perpendicular 
precipice down to the water. On the left-hand side, which we 
traversed, rose a higher and equally inaccessible mountain, the 
top of which strongly resembled the shivered crater of an 
exhausted volcano. I never saw a spot in which there was less 
appearance of vegetation of any kind. The eye rested on 
nothing but barren and naked crags, and the rocks on which we 
walked by the side of the loch, were as bare as the pavements 
of Cheapside. There are one or two small islets in the loch, 
which seem to bear juniper, or some such low bushy shrub. 
Upon the whole, though I have seen many scenes of more exten- 
sive desolation, I never witnessed any in which it pressed more 
deeply upon the eye and the heart than at Loch Corrisken ; at 
the same time that its grandeur elevated and redeemed it from 
the wild and dreary character of utter barrenness." 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 261 

Note M. 

Men were they all of evil mien, 
Down-look' d, unwilling to be seen. — P. 115. 

The story of Bruce's meeting the banditti is copied, with such 
alterations as the fictitious narrative rendered necessary, from a 
striking incident in the monarch's history, told by Barbour, and 
which I shall give in the words of the hero's biographer. It is 
the sequel to the adventure of the bloodhound, narrated in Note 
K. It will be remembered that the narrative broke off, leaving 
the Bruce escaped from his pursuers, but worn out with fatigue, 
and having no other attendant but his foster-brother. 

And the gud king held forth his way, 

Betuix him and his man, quhill thai 

Passyt owt throw the forest war; 

Syne in the more thai entryt thar, 

It wes bathe hey, and lang, and braid ; 

And or thai hairT it passyt had, 

Thai saw on syd three men cummand^ 

Lik to lycht men and wauerand. 

Swerdis thai had, and axys als ; 

And ane off thaim, apon his hals,' 

A mekill boundyn wethir bar. 

Thai met the king, and halist * him thar : 

And the king thaim thar hailsing yauld ; s 

And askyt thaim quethir thai wauld. 

Thai said, Robert the Bruyss thai soucht; 

For mete with him giff that thai moucht, 

Thar duelling with him wauld thai ma.* 

The king said, ' Gif that ye will swa, 

Haldys furth your way with me, 

And I sail ger yow sone him se/ 

" Thai persawyt, be his speking, 
That he wes the selwyn Robert king. 
And chaungyt contenance and late;^ 
And held nocht in the fyrst state. 
For thai war fayis to the king : 
And thoucht to cum in to sculking 
And duell with him, quhill that thai saw 
Thar poynt, and bring him than off daw. 6 

1 Neck.— 2 Saluted.— 3 Returned their salute.— 4 Make.— 5 Gesture or manner. 
•Kiltliira. 



262 APPENDIX TO THE 

Thai grantyt till his spek forthi. 1 

Bot the king, that wes witty, 

Persawyt weili, by thar hawing, 

That thai luffyt him na thing: 

And said, ■ Falowis, ye mon, all thre, 

Forthir aqwent till that we be, 

All be your selwyn furth ga ; 

And, on the samyn wyss, we twa 

Sail folow behind weill ner.' 

Quoth thai, « Schyr, it is na myster * 

To trow in ws ony ill.' 

* Nane do I,' said he ; ' bot I will, 

That yhe ga fourth thus, quhill we 

Better with othyr knawin be.' 

' We grant,' thai said, « sen ye will swa:' 

And furth apon thair gate gan ga. 

" Thus yeid thai till the nycht wes ner. 
And than the formast cummyn wer 
Till a waist housband houss ; 3 and thar 
They slew the wethir that thai bar : 
And slew fyr for to rost thar mete ; 
And askyt the king giff he wald ete, 
And rest him till the mete war dycht. 
The king, that hungry was, Ik hycht, 
Assentyt till thair spek in hy. - 
Bot he said, he wald anerly 4 
At a fyr; and thai all thre 
On na wyss with thaim till gyddre be. 
In the end off the houss thai suld ma 
Ane othyr fyr: and thai did swa. 
Thai drew thaim in the houss end, 
And halrT the wethir till him send. 
And thai rostyt in hy thair mete ; 
And fell rycht freschly for till ete. 
For the king weill lang fastyt had ; 
And had rycht mekill trawaill mad : 
Tharfor he eyt full egrely 
And quhen he had etyn hastily, 
He had to slep sa mekill will, 
That he moueht set na let thar till. 
For quhen the wanys b fillyt ar 
Men worthys 6 hewy euirmar ; 

1 Therefore.— 2 There is no need.— 3 Husbandman's house, cottage.— 4 Alone. 
— 5 Bellies.— 6 Becomes. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 263 

And to slepe drawys hewynes, 
The king, that all fortrawaillyt ' wes, 
Saw that him worth tyt slep nedwayis. 
Till his fostyr-brodyr he sayis; 

* May I traist in the, me to waik, 
Till Ik a litill sleping tak V 

* Ya, Schyr,' he said, ■ till I may drey.' 2 
The king then wynkyt a litill wey ; 
And slepyt nocht full encrely; 

Bot glirTnyt wp oft sodanly. 
For he had dreid off thai thre men, 
That at the tothyr fyr war then. 
That thai his fais war he wyst ; 
Tharfor he slepyt as foule on twyst. 3 
"The king slepyt bot a litill than; 
Quhen sic slep fell on this man, 
That he mycht^ nocht hald wp his ey, 
Bot fell in slep, and rowtyt hey. 
Now is the king in gret perile : 
For slep he swa a litill quhile, 
He sail be ded, for owtyn dreid. 
For the thre tratouris tuk gud heid, 
That he on slep wes, and his man. 
In full gret hy thai raiss wp than, 
And drew thair suerdis hastily; 
And went towart the king in hy, 
Quhen that thai saw him sleip swa, 
And slepand thoucht thai wald him sla. 
The king wp blenkit hastily, 
And saw his man slepand him by; 
And saw cummand the tothyr thre. 
Deliuerly on fute gat he ; 
And drew his suerd owt, and thaim mete. 
And, as he yude, his fute he set 
Apon his man, weill hewyly. 
He waknyt, and raiss disily : 
For the slep maistryt hym sway, 
That or he gat wp, ane off thai, 
That com for to sla the king, 
Gaiff hym a strak in his rysing, 
Swa that he mycht help him no mar. 
The king sa straitly stad 4 wes thar, 



i Fatigued. — 2 Endure. — 3 Bird on bough. — 4 So dangerously situated. 






264 APPENDIX TO THE 

Thet he wes neuir yeyt sa stad. 



Ne war the armyng ! that he had, 
He had bene dede, for owtyn wer. 
But nocht for thi 2 on sic maner 
He helpyt him, in that bargayne, 3 
That thai thre tratowris he has slan, 
Throw Goddis grace, and his manheid. 
His fostyr-brothyr thar was dede. 
Then wes he wondre will of wayn, 4 
Quhen he saw him left allane. 
His fostyr-brodyr menyt he; 
And waryit 5 all the tothyr thre. 
And syne hys way tuk him allane, 
And rycht to wart his tryst 6 is gane." 

The Bruce, Book v., v 405. 

Note N. 

Such hate teas his on Solway's strand, 
When vengeance clenched his palsied hand, 
That pointed yet to Scotland's land. — P. 116. 

To establish his dominion in Scotland had been a favourite 
object of Edward's ambition, and nothing could exceed the perti- 
nacity with which he pursued it, unless his inveterate resentment 
against the insurgents, who so frequently broke the English yoke 
when he deemed it most firmly riveted. After the battles of Fal- 
kirk and Methven, and the dreadful examples which he had made 
of Wallace and other champions of national independence, he 
probably concluded every chance of insurrection was completely 
annihilated. This was in 1306, when Bruce, as we have seen, 
was utterly expelled from Scotland : yet, in the conclusion of the 
same year, Bruce was again in arms and formidable ; and in 1307, 
Edward, though exhausted by a long and wasting malady, put 
himself at the head of the army destined to destroy him utterly. 
This was, perhaps, partly in consequence of a vow which he had 
taken upon him, with all the pomp of chivalry, upon the day in 
which he dubbed his son a knight, for which see a subsequent 
note. But even his spirit of vengeance was unable to restore his 

1 Had it not been for the armour he wore.— 2 Nevertheless.— 8 Fray, or dis- 
pute.— 1 * Much afflicted.— s Cursed.— 6 The place of rendezvous appointed for his 
soldiers. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 265 

exhausted strength. He reached Burgh-upon-Sands, a petty 
village of Cumberland, on the shores of the Solway Firth, and 
there, 6th July, 1307, expired in sight of the detested and devoted 
country of Scotland. His dying injunctions to his son required 
him to continue the Scottish war, and never to recall Gaveston. 
Edward II. disobeyed both charges. Yet more to mark his ani- 
mosity, the dying monarch ordered his bones to be carried with 
the invading army. Froissart, who probably had the authority 
of eye-witnesses, has given us the following account of this 
remarkable charge : — 

" In the said forest, the old King Robert of Scotland dyd kepe 
hymselfe, whan King Edward the Fyrst conquered nygh all Scot- 
land ; for he was so often chased, that none durst loge him in 
castell, nor fortresse, for feare of the said Kyng. 

" And ever whan the King was returned into Ingland, than he 
would gather together agayn his people, and conquere townes, 
castells, and fortresses, iuste to Berwick, some by battle, and 
some by fair speech and love : and when the said King Edward 
heard thereof, than would he assemble his power, and wyn the 
realme of Scotland again ; thus the chance went between these 
two foresaid Kings. It was shewed me, how that this King 
Robert wan and lost his realme v. times. So this continued till 
the said King Edward died at Berwick : and when he saw that 
he should die, he called before him his eldest son, who was King 
after him, and there, before all the barones, he caused him to 
swear, that as soon as he were dead, that he should take his body, 
and boyle it in a cauldron, till the flesh departed clean from the 
bones, and than to bury the flesh, and keep still the bones, and 
that as often as the Scotts should rebell against him, he should 
assemble the people against them, and carry with him the bones 
of his father ; for he believed verily, that if they had his bones 
with them, that the Scotts should never attain any victory against 
them. The which thing was not accomplished, for when the 
King died his son carried him to London." — Berners' Frois- 
sart's Chronicle, London, 1812, pp. 39, 40. 

Edward's commands were not obeyed, for he was interred in 
Westminster Abbey, with the appropriate inscription : — 
"Edwardus Primus Scotorum malleus hic est. 
Pactum Serva." 
Vol. V. 23 



266 APPENDIX TO THE 

Yet some steps seem to have been taken towards rendering his 
body capable of occasional transportation, for it was exquisitely 
embalmed, as was ascertained when his tomb was opened some 
years ago. Edward II. judged wisely in not carrying the dead 
body of his father into Scotland, since he would not obey his 
living counsels. 

It ought to be observed, that though the order of the incidents 
is reversed in the poem, yet, in point of historical accuracy, Bruce 
had landed in Scotland, and obtained some successes of conse- 
quence, before the death of Edward I. 

Note O. 

On Scooreigg next a warning light 

Summoned her warriors to the fight ; 

A numerous race, ere stern Macleod 

O'er their black shores in vengeance strode. — P. 146. 

These, and the following lines of the stanza, refer to a dread- 
ful tale of feudal vengeance, of which unfortunately there are 
relics that still attest the truth. Scoor-Eigg is a high peak in 
the centre of the small Isle of Eigg, or Egg. It is well known 
to mineralogists, as affording many interesting specimens, and to 
others whom chance or curiosity may lead to the island, for the 
astonishing view of the mainland and neighbouring isles, which 
it commands. I shall again avail myself of the journal I have 
quoted. 1 

" 26th August, 1814. — At seven this morning we were in the 
Sound which divides the Isle of Rum from that of Egg. The 
latter, although hilly and rocky, and traversed by a remarkably 
high and barren ridge, called Scoor-Rigg, has, in point of soil, a 
much more promising appearance. Southward of both lies the 
Isle of Muich, or Muck, a low and fertile island, and though the 
least, yet probably the most valuable of the three. We manned 
the boat, and rowed along the shore of Egg in quest of a cavern, 
which had been the memorable scene of a horrid feudal vengeance. 
We had rounded more than half the island, admiring the entrance 

1 [See note to p. 253, ante.] 



• 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 267 

of many a bold natural cave, which its rocks exhibited, without 
finding that which we sought, until we procured a guide. Nor, 
indeed, was it surprising that it should have escaped the search 
of strangers, as there are no outward indications more than might 
distinguish the entrance of a fox-earth. This noted cave has a 
very narrow opening, through which one can hardly creep on his 
knees and hands. It rises steep and lofty within, and runs into 
the bowels of the rock to the depth of 255 measured feet ; the 
height at the entrance may be about three feet, but rises within 
to eighteen or twenty, and the breadth may vary in the same pro- 
portion. The rude and stony bottom of this cave is strewed with 
the bones of men, women, and children, the sad relics of the 
ancient inhabitants of the island, 200 in number, who were slain 
on the following occasion : — The Mac-Donalds of the Isle of Egg, 
a people dependent on Clan-Ranald, had done some injury to the 
Laird of Mac-Leod. The tradition of the isle says, that it was 
by a personal attack on the chieftain, in which his back was bro- 
ken. But that of the other isles bears, more probably, that the 
injury was offered to two or three of the Mac-Leods, who, land- 
ing upon Eigg, and using some freedom with the young women, 
were seized by the islanders, bound hand and foot, and turned 
adrift in a boat, which the winds and waves safely conducted to 
Skye. To avenge the offence given, Mac-Leod sailed with such 
a body of men, as rendered resistance hopeless. The natives, 
fearing his vengeance, concealed themselves in this cavern, and, 
after a strict search, the Mac-Leods went on board their galleys, 
after doing what mischief they could, concluding the inhabitants 
had left the isle, and betaken themselves to the Long Island, or 
some of Clan-Ranald's other possessions. But next morning 
they espied from the vessels a man upon the island, and immedi- 
ately landing again, they traced his retreat by the marks of his 
footsteps, a light snow being unhappily on the ground. Mac- 
Leod then surrounded the cavern, summoned the subterranean 
garrison, and demanded that the individuals who had offended him 
should, be delivered up to him. This was peremptorily refused. 
The chieftain then caused his people to divert the course of a rill 
of water, which, falling over the entrance of the cave, would 
have prevented his purposed vengeance. He then kindled at the 
entrance of the cavern a huge fire, composed of turf and fern, 



268 APPENDIX TO THE 

and maintained it with unrelenting assiduity, until all within 
were destroyed by suffocation. The date of this dreadful deed 
must have been recent, if one may judge from the fresh appear- 
ance of those relics. I brought off, in spite of the prejudice of 
our sailors, a skull from among the numerous specimens of mor- 
tality which the cavern afforded. Before re-embarking we visited 
another cave, opening to the sea, but of a character entirely 
different, being a large open vault as high as that of a cathedral, 
and running back a great way into the rock at the same height. 
The height and width of the opening give ample light to the 
whole. Here, after 1745, when the Catholic priests were 
scarcely tolerated, the priest of Eigg used to perform the Roman 
Catholic service, most of the islanders being of that persuasion. 
A huge ledge of rocks rising about half-way up one side of the 
vault, served for altar and pulpit ; and the appearance of a priest 
and Highland congregation in such an extraordinary place of 
worship, might have engaged the pencil of Salvator." 

Note P. 

Up Tartars western lake they bore, 

Then dragged their bark the isthmus o'er. — P. 126. 

The peninsula of Cantire is joined to South Knapdale by a very 
narrow isthmus, formed by the western and eastern Loch of Tar- 
bat. These two salt-water lakes, or bays, encroach so far upon 
the land, and the extremities come so near to each other, that 
there is not above a mile of land to divide them. 

" It is not long," says Pennant, " since vessels of nine or ten 
tons were drawn by horses out of the west loch into that of the 
east, to avoid the dangers of the Mull of Cantyre, so dreaded and 
so little known was the navigation round that promontory. It is 
the opinion of many, that these little isthmuses, so frequently 
styled Tarbat in North Britain, took their name from the above 
circumstance ; Tarruing, signifying to draw, and Bata, a boat. 
This too might be called, by way of pre-eminence, the Tarbat, 
from a very singular circumstance related by Torfceus. When 
Magnus, the barefooted king of Norway, obtained from Donald- 
bane of Scotland the cession of the Western Isles, or all those 



LORD OF THE ISLES, 269 

places that could be surrounded in a boat, he added to them the 
peninsula of Cantyre by this fraud : he placed himself in the 
stern of a boat, held the rudder, was drawn over this narrow- 
track, and by this species of navigation wrested the country from 
his brother monarch." — Pennant's Scotland, London, 1790, 
p. 190. 

But that Bruce also made this passage, although at a period 
two or three years later than in the poem, appears from the evi- 
dence of Barbour, who mentions also the effect produced upon the 
minds of the Highlanders, from the prophecies current amongst 
them : — 

"Bot to King Robert will we gang, 

That we haff left wnspokyn of lang. 

Quhen he had conwoyit to the se 

His brodyr Eduuard, and his menye, 

And othyr men off gret noblay. 

To Tarbart thai held thair w 7 ay, 

In galayis ordanyt for thair far. 

Bot thaim worthy t l draw thair schippis thar : 

And a myle wes betuix the seys: 

Bot that wes lompnyt 2 all with treis. 

The King his schippis thar gert 3 draw. 

And for the wynd couth 4 stoutly blaw 

Apon thair bak, as thai wald ga, 

He gert men rapys and mastis ta, 

And set thaim in the schippis hey, 

And sayllis to the toppis tey; 

And gert men gang thar by drawand. 

The wynd thaim helpyt, that was blawand ; 

Swa that, in a litill space, 

Thair flote all our drawin was. 

" And quhen thai, that in the His war, 
Hard tell how the gud King had thar 
Gert hys schippis with saillis ga 
Owt our betuix [the] Tarbart[is] twa, 
Thai war abaysit 5 sa wtrely. 
For thai w 7 yst, throw auld prophecy, 
That he that suld ger 6 schippis sua 
Betuix thai seis with saillis ga, 

i Were obliged to.— 2 Laid with trees.— 3 Caused. — 4 Could.— 5 Confounded. 
— • Make. 

23* 



270 APPEiNDIX TO THE 

Suld wyne the His sua till hand, 

That nane with strength suld him withstand. 

Tharfor thai come all to the King. 

Wes nane withstud his bidding, 

Owtakyn ' Jhone of Lome allayne. 

Bot weill sone ef Ire wes he tayne ; 

And present rycht to the King. 

And thai that war of his leding, 

That till the King had brokyn fay, 2 

War all dede, and destroyit away." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book x., v. 821. 



Note Q,. 

For, see ! the ruddy signal made, 
That Clifford, with his merry- men all, 
Guards carelessly our father's hall. — P. 156. 

The remarkable circumstances by which Bruce was induced 
to enter Scotland, under the false idea that a signal-fire was 
lighted upon the shore near his maternal castle of Turnberry — 
the disappointment which he met with, and the train of success 
which arose out of that very disappointment, are too curious to 
be passed over unnoticed. The following is the narrative of 
Barbour. The introduction is a favourable specimen of his style, 
which seems to be in some degree the model for that of Gawain 
Douglas : — 

"This wes in ver, 3 quhen wynter tid, 
With his blastis hidwyss to bid, 
Was our dry wyn : and byrdis smale, 
As turturis and the nychtyngale, 
Begouth 4 rycht sariely 6 to syng ; 
And for to mak in thair singyng 
Swete notis, and sownys ser, G 
And melodys plesand to her. 
And the treis begouth to ma T 
Burgeans, 8 and brycht blomys alsua, 
To wyn the helyng 9 off thair hewid, 
That wykkyt wyntir had thaim rewid. 10 

1 Excepting.— 2 Faith.— 3 Spring.— * Began.— e Loftily.— e Several.— ' Make. 
— e Bude.^ 9 Covering.— 10 Bereaved. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 271 

And all gressys beguth to spryng. 
In to that tyme the nobill king, 
With his flote, and a few menye, 1 
Thre hundyr I trow thai mycht be, 
Is to the se, owte off Arane 
A litill forouth, 2 ewyn gane. 

"Thai rowit fast, with all their mycht, 
Till that apon thaim fell the nycht, 
That woux myrk 3 apon gret maner 
Swa that thai wyst nocht quhar thai wer. 
For thai na nedill had, na stane ; 
But rowyt alwayis in till ane, 
Sterand all tyme apon the fyr, 
That thai saw brynnand lycht and schyr. 4 
It wes bot auentur 5 thaim led : 
And thai in schort tyme sa thaim sped, 
That at the fyr arywyt thai ; 
And went to land bot mar delay. 
And Cuthbert, that has sene the fyr, 
Was full off angyr, and off ire : 
For he durst nocht do it away ; 
And wes alsua dowtand ay 
That his lord suld pass to se. 
Tharfor thair eummyn waytit he ; 
And met thaim at thair arywing. 
He wes wele sone broucht to the King, 
That speryt at him how he had done. 
And he with sar hart tauld him sone, 
How that he fand nane weill luffand ; 
Bot all war fay is, that he fand: 
And that the lord the Persy, 
With ner thre hundre in cumpany, 
Was in the castell thar besid, 
Fulfillyt off dispyt and prid. 
But ma than twa parlis off his rowt 
War herberyt in the toune without; j 
And dyspytyt yow mar, Schir King 
Than men may dispyt ony thing.' 
Than said the King, in full gret ire; 
'Tratour, quhy maid thow than the fyr?' 
'A! Schyr,' said he, 'sa God me se! 
The fyr wes newyr maid for me. 
Na, or the nycht, I wyst it nocht; 
Bot fra I wyst it, weill I thocht 

1 Men.— 2 Before.— 3 Dark.— 4 Clear.— 5 Adventure. 



272 APPENDIX TO THE 

That ye, and haly your raenye, 
In hy 1 suld put yow to the se, 
For thi I cum to mete yow her, 
To tell perellys that may aper.' 

"The King wes off his spek angry, 
And askyt his pry we men, in hy, 
Quhat at thaim thoucht wes best to do. 
Schyr Edward fryst answert thar to, 
His brodyr that wes swa hardy, 
And said ; * I say yow sekyrly 
Thar sail na perell, that may be, 
Dryve me eftsonys 2 to the se. 
Myne auentur her tak will I, 
Quhethir it be esfull or angry.' 
'Brothyr,' he said, 'sen thou will sua, 
It is gud that we samyn ta 
Dissese or ese, or payne or play, 
Eftyr as God will ws purway. 3 
And sen men sayis that the Persy 
Myn heretage will occupy; 
And his menye sa ner ws lyis, 
That ws dispytis mony wyss; 
Ga we and wenge 4 sum off the dispyte 
And that may we haiff done alss tite ; 5 
For thai ly traistly, 6 but dreding 
Off ws, or off our her cummyng. 
And thoucht we slepand slew thaim all, 
ReprufT tharof na man sail. 
For werrayour na forss suld ma, 
Quhethir he mycht ourcum his fa 
Throw strenth, or throw sutelte ; 
But that gud faith ay haldyn be.' " 

Barbour's Bruce, Book iv., v. 1. 

Note R. 

The Bruce hath won his father's hall ! — P. 177. 

I have followed the flattering and pleasing tradition, that the 
Bruce, after his descent upon the coast of Ayrshire, actually 
gained possession of his maternal castle. But the tradition is not 
accurate. The fact is, that he was only strong enough to alarm 
and drive in the outposts of the English garrison, then com- 

1 Haste.— 2 Soon after.— 3 Prepare.— 4 Avenge.— 5 Quickly.— 6 Confidently. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 273 

mande^, not by Clifford, as assumed in the text, but by Percy. 
Neither was Clifford slain upon this occasion, though he had 
several skirmishes with Bruce. He fell afterwards in the battle 
of Bannockburn. Bruce, after alarming the castle of Turnberry, 
and surprising some part of the garrison, who were quartered 
without the walls of the fortress, retreated into the mountainous 
part of Carrick, and there made himself so strong, that the 
English were obliged to evacuate Turnberry, and at length the 
Castle of Ayr. Many of his benefactions and royal gifts attest 
his attachment to the hereditary followers of his house, in this 
part of the country. 

It is generally known, that Bruce, in consequence of his dis- 
tresses after the battle of Methven, was affected by a scorbutic 
disorder, which was then called a leprosy. It is said he experi- 
enced benefit from the use of a medicinal spring, about a mile 
north of the town of Ayr, called from that circumstance King's 
Ease. 1 The following is the tradition of the country, collected 
by Mr. Train : — " After Robert ascended the throne, he founded 
the priory of Dominican monks, every one of whom was under 
the obligation of putting up to Heaven a prayer once every 
week-day, and twice in holydays, for the recovery of the king ; 
and, after his death, these masses were continued for the saving 
of his soul. The ruins of this old monastery are now nearly 
level with the ground. Robert likewise caused houses to be 
built round the well of King's Ease, for eight lepers, and allow- 
ed eight bolls of oatmeal, and 28Z. Scotch money, per annum, to 
each person. These donations were laid upon the lands of 
Fullarton, and are now payable by the Duke of Portland. The 
farm of Shiels, in the neighbourhood of Ayr, has to give, if 
required, a certain quantity of straw for the lepers' beds, and so 
much to thatch their houses annually. Each leprous person had 
a drinking-horn provided him by the king, which continued to 
be hereditary in the house to which it was first granted. One 
of those identical horns, of very curious workmanship, was in 
the possession of the late Colonel Fullarton of that Ilk." 



1 [Sir Walter Scott had misread Mr. Train's MS., which gave not King's 
Ease, but King's Case, i. e. Casa Regis, the name of the royal foundation 
described below. Mr. Train's kindness enables the Editor to make this correc 
tjon, 1833.] 



274 APPENDIX TO THE 

My correspondent proceeds to mention some curious remnants 
of antiquity respecting this foundation. " In compliment to Sir 
William Wallace, the great deliverer of his country, King 
Robert Bruce invested the descendants of that hero with the 
right of placing all the lepers upon the establishment of King's 
Case. This patronage continued in the family of Craigie, till it 
was sold along with the lands of the late Sir Thomas Wallace. 
The burgh of Ayr then purchased the right of applying the 
donations of King's Case to the support of the poor-house of 
Ayr. The lepers' charter-stone was a basaltic block, exactly 
the shape of a sheep's kidney, and weighing an Ayrshire boll of 
meal. The surface of this stone being as smooth as glass, there 
was not any other way of lifting it than by turning the hollow 
to the ground, there extending the arms along each side of the 
stone, and clasping the hands in the cavity. Young lads were 
always considered as deserving to be ranked among men, when 
they could lift the blue stone of King's Case. It always lay 
beside the well, till a few years ago, when some English dragoons 
encamped at that place wantonly broke it, since which the frag- 
ments have been kept by the freemen of Prestwick in a place of 
security. There is one of these charter-stones at the village of 
Old Daily, in Carrick, which has become more celebrated by the 
following event, which happened only a very few years ago : — 
The village of New Daily being now larger than the old place 
of the same name, the inhabitants insisted that the charter-stone 
should be removed from the old town to the new, but the people 
of Old Daily were unwilling to part with their ancient right. 
Demands and remonstrances were made on each side without 
effect, till at last man, woman, and child, of both villages, marched 
out, and by one desperate engagement put an end to a war, the 
commencement of which no person then living remembered. 
Justice and victory, in this instance, being of the same party, the 
villagers of the old town of Daily now enjoy the pleasure of 
keeping the blue-stane unmolested. Ideal privileges are often 
attached to some of these stones. In Girvan, if a man can set 
his back against one of the above description, he is supposed not 
liable to be arrested for debt, nor can cattle, it is imagined, be 
poinded as long as they are fastened to the same stone. That 
stones were often used as symbols to denote the right of possess- 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 275 

ing land, before the use of written documents became general in 
Scotland, is, I think, exceedingly probable. The charter-stone 
of Inverness is still kept with great care, set in a frame, and 
hooped with iron, at the market-place of that town. It is called 
by the inhabitants of that district Clack na Couldin. I think it 
is very likely that Carey has mentioned this stone in his poem of 
Craig Phaderick. This is only a conjecture, as I have never seen 
that work. While the famous marble chair was allowed to 
remain at Scoon, it was considered as the charter-stone of the 
kingdom of Scotland." 

Note S. 

" Bring here" he said, " the mazers four, 
My noble fathers loved of yore." — P. 177. 

These mazers were large drinking-cups, or goblets. Mention 
of them occurs in a curious inventory of the treasure and jewels 
of James III., which will be published, with other curious docu- 
ments of antiquity, by my friend, Mr. Thomas Thomson, D. Re- 
gister of Scotland, under the title of " A Collection of Invento- 
ries, and other Records of the Royal Wardrobe, Jewel-House," 
&c. I copy the passage, in which mention is made of the ma- 
zers, and also of a habiliment, called " King Robert Bruce's serk," 
i. e. shirt, meaning, perhaps, his shirt of mail ; although no other 
arms are mentioned in the inventory. It might have been a relic 
of more sanctified description, a penance shirt perhaps. 

Extract from " Inventare of ane Parte of the Gold and Silver 
conyeit and unconyeit, Joioellis, and uther Stuff perteining to 
Umquhile oure Soverane Lords Fader, that he had in Depois 
the Tyme of his Deceis, and that come to the Handis of oure 
Soverane Lord that now is, m.cccc.lxxxviii." 
" Memorandum fundin in a bandit kist like a gardeviant, 1 in the 

fyrst the grete chenye 2 of gold, contenand sevin score sex linkis. 

Item, thre platis of silver. 

Item, tuelf salfatis. 3 

Item, fyftene discheis 4 ouregilt. 

iGard-vin, or wine-cooler.— 2 Chain. —3 Salt-cellars, anciently the object of 
much curious workmanship.— 4 Dishes. 



276 APPENDIX TO THE 

Item, a grete gilt plate. 

Item, twa grete bassingis l ouregilt. 

Item, four Masaris, called King Robert the Brocis, with -a 

cover. 
Item, a grete cok maid of silver. 

Item, the hede of silver of ane of the coveris of masar. 
Item, a fare dialle. 2 
Item, twa kasis of knyffis. 3 
Item, a pare of auld kniffis. 
Item, takin be the smyth that opinnit the lokkis, in gold fourty 

demyis. 
Item, in Inglys grotis 4 xxiii li. and the said silver 

given again to the takaris of hym. 
Item, ressavit in the cloissat of Davidis tour, ane haly water-fat 

of silver, twa boxis, a cageat tume, a glas with rois-water, a 

dosoune of torchis, King Robert Brucis Serk." 

The real use of the antiquarian's studies, is to bring the minute 
information which he collects to bear upon points of history. For 
example, in the inventory I have just quoted, there is given the 
contents of the black kist, or chest, belonging to James III., which 
was his strong box, and contained a quantity of treasure, in mo- 
ney and jewels, surpassing what might have been at the period 
expected of " poor Scotland's gear." This illustrates and authen- 
ticates a striking passage in the history of the house of Douglas, 
by Hume of Godscroft. The last Earl of Douglas (of the elder 
branch) had been reduced to monastic seclusion in the Abbey of 
Lindores, by James II. James III., in his distresses, would wil- 
lingly have recalled him to public life, and made him his lieute- 
nant. " But he," says Godscroft, " laden with years and old age, 
and weary of troubles, refused, saying, Sir, you have keept mee, 
and your black coffer in Sterling, too long, neither of us can doe 
you any good : I, because my friends have forsaken me, and my 
followers and dependers are fallen from me, betaking themselves 
to other masters ; and your black trunk is too farre from you, and 
your enemies are between you and it : or (as others say) because 
there was in it a sort of black coyne, that the king had caused to 

i Basins. — 2 Dial. —3 Cases of knives.— 4 English groats. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 277 

be coyned by the advice of his courtiers ; which moneyes (saith 
he) sir, if you had put out at the first, the people would have 
taken it; and if you had employed mee in due time I might have 
done you service. But now there is none that will take notice 
of me, nor meddle with your money." — Hume's History of the 
House of Douglas, fol. Edin. 1644, p. 206. 

Note T. 
When English blood oft deluged Douglas-dale. — P. 184. 

The "good Lord James of Douglas," during these commotions, 
often took from the English his own castle of Douglas, but being 
unable to garrison it, contented himself with destroying the forti- 
fications, and retiring into the mountains. As a reward to his 
patriotism, it is said to have been prophesied, that how often soever 
Douglas Castle should be destroyed, it should always again arise 
more magnificent from its ruins. Upon one of these occasions he 
used fearful cruelty, causing all the store of provisions, which the 
English had laid up in his castle, to be heaped together, bursting 
the wine and beer-casks among the wheat and flour, slaughtering 
the cattle upon the same spot, and upon the top of the whole cut- 
ting the throats of the English prisoners. This pleasantry of the 
"good Lord James" is commemorated under the name of the 
Douglas's Larder. A more pleasing tale of chivalry is recorded 
by Godscroft. " By this means, and such other exploits, he so 
affrighted the enemy, that it was counted a matter of great jeo- 
pardie to keep this castle, which began to be called the adven* 
turous (or hazardous) Castle of Douglas ; whereupon Sir John 
Walton being in suit of an English lady, she wrote to him, that 
when he had kept the adventurous Castle of Douglas seven years, 
then he might think himself worthy to be a suitor to her. Upon 
this occasion Walton took upon him the keeping of it, and suc- 
ceeded to Thruswall, but he ran the same fortune with the rest 
that were before him. For Sir James, having first dressed an 
ambuscado near unto the place, he made fourteen of his men take 
so many sacks, and fill them with grass, as though it had been 
corn, which they carried in the way to Lanark, the chief market 
town in that county : so hoping to draw forth the captain by that 
bait, and either to take him or the castle, or both. Neither was 

Vol. V. 24 



278 APPENDIX TO THE 

this expectation frustrated, for the captain did bite, and came forth 
to have taken this victual (as he supposed.) But ere he could 
reach these carriers, Sir James, with his company, had gotten 
between the castle and him; and these disguised carriers, seeing 
the captain following after them, did quickly cast off their sacks, 
mounted themselves on horseback, and met the captain with a 
sharp encounter, being so much the more amazed, as it was un- 
looked for : wherefore, when he saw these carriers metamorphosed 
into warriors, and ready to assault him, fearing that which was, 
that there was some train laid for them, he turned about to have 
retired to his castle, but there he also met with his enemies ; be- 
tween which two companies he and his whole followers were 
slain, so that none escaped: the captain afterwards being searched, 
they found (as it is reported) his mistress's letter about him." — 
Hume's History of the House of Douglas, fol. pp. 29, 30. 1 

Note U. 

And Connoght pour'd from waste and wood 
Her hundred tribes, whose sceptre rude 
Dark Eth O'Connor sway' d.— P. 189. 

There is in the Faedera an invitation to Eth O'Connor, chief 
of the Irish of Connaught, setting forth that the king was about 
to move against his Scottish rebels, and therefore requesting the 
attendance of all the force he could muster, either commanded 
by himself in person, or by some nobleman of his race. These 
auxiliaries were to be commanded by Richard de Burgh, Earl of 
Ulster. Similar mandates were issued to the following Irish 
chiefs, whose names may astonish the unlearned, and amuse the 
antiquary. 

" Eth O Donnuld, Duci Hibernicorum de Tyconil ; 
Demod O Kahan, Duci Hibernicorum de Fernetrew ; 
Doneval O Neel, Duci Hibernicorum de Trowyn ; 
Neel Macbreen, Duci Hibernicorum de Kynallewan; 
Eth. OfFyn, Duci Hibernicorum de Turtery ; 
Admely Mac Anegus, Duci Hibernicorum de Onehagh ; 

1 [This is the foundation of the Author's last romance, Castle Dangerous.— -Ed. J 






LORD OF THE ISLES. 279 

Neel O Hanlan, Duci Hibernicorum de Erthere ; 

Bien Mac Mahun, Duci Hibernicorum de Uriel ; 

Lauercagh Mac Wyr, Duci Hibernicorum de Lougherin; 

Gillys O Railly, Duci Hibernicorum de Bresfeny ; 

Geffrey O Fergy, Duci Hibernicorum de Montiragvvil ; 

Felyn O Honughur, Duci Hibernicorum de Connach; 

Donethuth O Bien, Duci Hibernicorum de Tothmund ; 

Dermod Mac Arthy, Duci Hibernicorum de Dessemound ; 

Denenol Carbragh ; 

Maur. Kenenagh Mac Murgh ; 

Murghugh O Bryn ; 

David O Tothvill ; 

Dermod O Tonoghur, Doftaly ; 

Fyn O Dymsy ; 

Souethuth Mac Gillephatrick ; 

Leyssagh O Morth ; 

Gilbertus Ekelly, Duci Hibernicorum de Omany ; 

Mac Ethelau ; 

Omalan Helyn, Duci Hibernicorum Midie." 

Rymer's Feeder a, vol. iii., pp. 476, 477, 

Note V. 

In battles four beneath their eye, 

The forces of King Robert lie. — P. 193. 

The arrangements adopted by King Robert for the decisive 
battle of Bannockburn, are given very distinctly by Barbour, and 
form an edifying lesson to tacticians. Yet, till commented upon 
by Lord Hailes, this important passage of history has been gene- 
rally and strangely misunderstood by historians. I will here 
endeavour to detail it fully. 

Two days before the battle, Bruce selected the field of action, 
and took post there with his army, consisting of about 30,000 
disciplined men, and about half the number of disorderly attend- 
ants upon the camp. The ground was called the New Park of 
Stirling ; it was partly open, and partly broken by copses of wood 
and marshy ground. He divided his regular forces into four 
divisions. Three of these occupied a front line, separated from 
each other, yet sufficiently near for the purposes of communica- 



280 APPENDIX TO THE 

tion. The fourth division formed a reserve. The line extended 
in a north-easterly direction from the brook of Bannock, which 
was so rugged and broken as to cover the right flank effectually 
to the village of Saint Ninian's, probably in the line of the present 
road from Stirling to Kilsyth. Edward Bruce commanded the 
right wing, which was strengthened by a strong body of cavalry 
under Keith, the Mareschal of Scotland, to whom was committed 
the important charge of attacking the English archers ; Douglas, 
and the young Steward of Scotland, led the central wing ; and 
Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, the left wing. The King 
himself commanded the fourth division, which lay in reserve 
behind the others. The royal standard was pitched, according to 
tradition, in a stone, having a round hole for its reception, and 
thence called the Bore-stone. It is still shown on the top of a 
small eminence, called Brock's-brae, to the south-west of St. 
Ninian's. His main body thus disposed, King Robert sent the 
followers of the camp, fifteen thousand and upwards in number, to 
the eminence in rear of his army, called from that circumstance 
the Gillies 9 (i. e. the servants') Hill. 

The military advantages of this position were obvious. The 
Scottish left flank, protected by the brook of Bannock, could not 
be turned ; or, if that attempt were made, a movement by the 
reserve might have covered it. Again, the English could not 
pass the Scottish army, and move towards Stirling, without expo- 
sing their flank to be attacked while in march. 

If, on the other hand, the Scottish line had been drawn up 
east and west, and facing to the southward, as affirmed by 
Buchanan, and adopted by Mr. Nimmo, the author of the History 
of Stirlingshire, there appears nothing to have prevented the 
English approaching upon the carse, or level ground, from Fal- 
kirk, either from turning the Scottish left flank, or from passing 
their position, if they preferred it, without coming to an action, 
and moving on to the relief of Stirling. And the Gillie's Hill, 
if this less probable hypothesis be adopted, would be situated, not 
in the rear, as allowed by all the historians, but upon the left 
flank of Bruce's army. The only objection to the hypothesis 
above laid down, is, that the left flank of Bruce's army was 
thereby exposed to a sally from the garrison of Stirling. But, 
1st, the garrison were bound to neutrality by terms of Mowbray's 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 281 

treaty ; and Barbour even seems to censure, as a breach of faith, 
some secret assistance which they rendered their countrymen 
upon the eve of battle, in placing temporary bridges of doors and 
spars over the pools of water in the carse, to enable them to 
advance to the charge. 1 2dly, Had this not been the case, the 
strength of the garrison was probably not sufficient to excite ap- 
prehension. 3dly, The adverse hypothesis leaves the rear of the 
Scottish army as much exposed to the Stirling garrison, as the 
left flank would be in the case supposed. 

It only remains to notice the nature of the ground in front of 
Bruce's line of battle. Being part of a park, or chase, it was con- 
siderably interrupted with trees ; and an extensive marsh, still 
visible, in some places rendered it inaccessible, and in all of diffi- 
cult approach. More to the northward, where the natural 
impediments were fewer, Bruce fortified his position against 
cavalry, by digging a number of pits so close together, says Bar- 
bour, as to resemble the cells in a honey-comb. They were a foot 
in breadth, and between two and three feet deep, many rows of 
them being placed one behind the other. They were slightly 
covered with brushwood and green sods, so as not to be obvious 
to an impetuous enemy. 

All the Scottish army were on foot, except a select body of 
cavalry stationed with Edward Bruce on the right wing, under 
the immediate command of Sir Robert Keith, the Marshal of 
Scotland, who were destined for the important service of charging 
and dispersing the English archers. 

Thus judiciously posted, in a situation fortified both by art and 
nature, Bruce awaited the attack of the English. 

Note W. 

With these the valiant of the Isles 

Beneath their chieftains ranked their files, — P. 195. 

The men of Argyle, the islanders, and the Highlanders in 
general, were ranked in the rear. They must have been nume- 

1 An assistance which (by the way) could not have been rendered, had not 
the English approached from the south-east ; since, had their march been due 
north, the whole Scottish army must have been between them and the gar- 
rison. 

24* 



282 APPENDIX TO THE 

rous, for Bruce had reconciled himself with almost all their chief- 
tains, excepting the obnoxious Mac-Dougals of Lorn. The follow- 
ing deed, containing the submission of the potent Earl of Ross to 
the King, was never before published. It is dated in the third 
year of Robert's reign, that is, 1309. 

" Obligacio Comitis Rossensis per Homagium Fidelitatem 

ET SfJRIPTUM. 

" Universis christi fidelibus ad quorum noticiam presentes 
litere peruenerint Willielmus Comes de Ross salutem in domino 
sempiternam. Quia magnificus princeps Dominus Robertus dei 
gracia Rex Scottorum Dominus meus ex innata sibi bonitate, 
inspirataque clemencia, et gracia special i remisit michi pure ran- 
corem animi sui, et relaxauit ac condonauit michi omnimodas 
transgressiones seu offensas contra ipsum et suos per me et meos 
vsque ad confeccionem literarum presencium perpetratas: Et 
terras meas et tenementa mea omnia graciose concessit. Et me 
nichilominus de terra de Dingwal et ferncroskry infra comitatum 
de Suthyrland de benigna liberalitate sua heriditarie infeodare 
curauit. Ego tantam principis beneuolenciam efficaciter attend- 
ens, et pro tot graciis michi factis, vicem sibi gratitudinis meis 

pro viribus de cetero digne vite cupiens exhi- 

bere, subicio et obligo me et heredes meos et homines meos 

vniuersos dicto Domino meo Regi per omnia 

erga suam regiam dignitatem, quod erimus de cetero fideles sibi 
et heredibus suis et fidele sibi seruicium auxilium et concilium 

contra omnes homines et feminas qui vivere 

poterint aut mori, et super h - - - Ego Willielmus pro me 

hominibus meis vniuersis dicto domino meo Regi - - 

manibus homagium sponte feci et super dei ewangelia 

sacramentum prestiti In quorum omnium testi- 
monium sigillum meum, et sigilla Hugonis filii et heredis et 
Johannis filii mei vna cum sigillis venerabilium patrum Domino- 
rum Dauid et Thome Moraviensis et Rossensis dei gracia episco- 
porum presentibus Uteris sunt appensa. Acta scripta et data apud 
Aldern in Morauia vltimo die mensis Octobris, Anno Regni dicti 
domini nostri Regis Roberti Tertio. Testibus venerabilibus 
patribus supradictis, Domino Bernardo Cancellario Regis, Dominis 
Willielmo de Haya, Johanne de Striuelyn, Willielmo Wysman, 



LORD OF THE ISLES, 283 

Johanne de Ffenton, Dauid de Berkeley, et Waltero de Berkeley 
militibus, magistro Waltero Hcroc, Decano ecclesie Morauie, 
magistro Williclmo de Creswel eiusdem ecclesie precentore et 
■multis aliis nobilibus clerieis et laicis dictis die et loco con- 
gregatis." 

The copy of this curious document was supplied by my friend, 
Mr. Thomson, Deputy Register of Scotland, whose researches 
into our ancient records arc daily throwing new and important 
light upon the history of the country. 

Note X. 

The Monarch rode along the van. — P. 197. 

The English vanguard, commanded by the Earls of Gloucester 
and Hereford, came in sight of the Scottish army upon the even- 
ing of the 23d of June. Bruce was then riding upon a little 
palfrey, in front of his foremost line, putting his host in order. It 
was then that the personal encounter took place betwixt him and 
Sir Henry de Bohun, a gallant English knight, the issue of which 
had a great effect upon the spirits of both armies. It is thus 
recorded by Barbour: — 

"And quhen Glosyster and Herfurd war 
With thair bataill, approchand ner, 
Befor thaim all thar come rydand, 
With helm on heid, and sper in hand, 
ISchyr Henry the Boune, the worthi, 
That wes a wycht knycht, and a hardy,* 
And to the Erie off Herfurd cusyne : 
Armyt in arrays gud and fyne; 
Come on a sted, a bow schote ner, 
Befor all othyr that thar wer: 
And knew the King, for that he saw 
Him swa rang his men on raw; 
And by the croune, that wes set 
Alsua apon his bassynet. 
And towart him he went in hy. 
And [quhen] the King sua apertly 
Saw him cum, fbrouth all his feris, 1 
In hy 2 till him the hors he steris. 

1 Comrades. — 2 Haste. 



284 APPENBIX TO THE 

And quhen Schyr Henry saw the Kin£ 
Cum on, for owtyn abaysing, 1 
Till him he raid in full gret hy. 
He thoucht that he suld weill lychtly 
Wyn him, and haf him at his will, 
Sen he him horsyt saw sa ill. 
Sprent 2 thai samyn in till a ling. 3 
Schyr Henry myssit the noble king. 
And he, that in his sterapys stud, 
With the ax that wes hard and gud, 
With sa gret mayne 4 raucht him a dynt y 
That nothyr hat, na helm, mycht stynt 
The hewy 5 dusche s that he him gave, 
That ner the heid till the harnys clave. 
The hand ax schaft fruschit 7 in twa; 
And he doune to the erd gan ga 
All flatlynys, 8 for him faillyt mycht. 
This wes the fryst strak off the fycht." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book viii., v. 684. 

The Scottish leaders remonstrated with the King upon his 
temerity. He only answered, " I have broken my good battle- 
axe." — The English vanguard retreated after witnessing this 
single combat. Probably their generals did not think it advisable 
to hazard an attack, while its unfavourable issue remained upon 
their minds. 

Note Y. 

What train of dust, with trumpet-sound, 
And glimmering spears, is wheeling round 
Our leftward flank! P. 201, 

While the van of the English army advanced, a detached body 
attempted to relieve Stirling. Lord Hailes gives the following 
account of this manoeuvre and the result, which is accompanied 
by circumstances highly characteristic of the chivalrous manners 
of the age, and displays that generosity which reconciles us even 
to their ferocity upon other occasions. 

Bruce had enjoined Randolph, who commanded the left wing 

i Without shrinking. — 2 Spurred. — 3 Line. — 4 Strength, or force. — e Heavy 
— « Clash.— 7 Broke.— ? Flat. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 285 

of his army, to be vigilant in preventing any advanced parties of 
the English from throwing succours into the castle of Stirling. 

u Eight hundred horsemen, commanded by Sir Robert Clifford, 
were detached from the English army ; they made a circuit by 
the low grounds to the east, and approached the castle. The 
king perceived their motions, and coming up to Randolph, angrily 
exclaimed, ' Thoughtless man ! you have suffered the enemy to 
pass.' Randolph hasted to repair his fault, or perish. As he 
advanced, the English cavalry wheeled to attack him. Randolph 
drew up his troops in a circular form, with their spears resting 
on the ground, and protended on every side. At the first onset, 
Sir William Daynecourt, an English commander of distinguished 
note, was slain. The enemy, far superior in numbers to Ran- 
dolph, environed him, and pressed hard on his little band, Doug- 
las saw his jeopardy, and requested the king's permission to go 
and succour him. ■ You shall not move from your ground,' cried 
the king; 'let Randolph extricate himself as he best may. I 
will not alter my order of battle, and lose the advantage of my 
position.' — 8 In truth,' replied Douglas, « I cannot stand by and see 
Randolph perish ; and, therefore, with your leave, I must aid 
him.' The king unwillingly consented, and Douglas flew to the 
assistance of his friend. While approaching, he perceived that 
the English were falling into disorder, and that the perseverance 
of Randolph had prevailed over their impetuous courage. * Halt,' 
cried Douglas, * those brave men have repulsed the enemy; let 
us not diminish their glory by sharing it.' " — Dalrymple's An- 
nals of Scotland, 4to, Edinburgh, 1779, pp. 44, 45. 

Two large stones erected at the north end of the village of 
Ncwhouse, about a quarter of a mile from the south part of Stir- 
ling, ascertain the place of this memorable skirmish. The cir- 
cumstance tends, were confirmation necessary, to support the 
opinion of Lord Hailes, that the Scottish line had Stirling on its 
left flank. It will be remembered, that Randolph commanded 
infantry, Daynecourt cavalry. Supposing^ therefore, according 
to the vulgar hypothesis, that the Scottish line was drawn up, 
facing to the south, in the line of the brook of Bannock, and con- 
sequently that Randolph was stationed with his left flank resting 
upon Milntown bog, it is morally impossible that his infantry, 
moving from that position, with whatever celerity, could cut off 



286 APPENDIX TO THE 

from Stirling a body of cavalry who had already passed St. Nini- 
ans, 1 or, in other words, were already between them and the- 
town. Whereas,, supposing Randolph's left to have approached 
St. Ninians, the short movement to Newhouse could easily be 
executed, so as to intercept the English in the manner described* 

Note Z. 

Forth, Marshal, on the peasant foe f 
We'll tame the terrors of their bow, 
And cut the bow-string loose ! — P. 208. 

The English archers commenced the attack with their usual 
bravery and dexterity. But against a force, whose importance he 
had learned by fatal experience, Bruce was provided* A small 
but select body of cavalry were detached from the right, under 
command of Sir Robert Keith. They rounded, as I conceive, 
the marsh called Milntown bog, and, keeping the firm ground, 
charged the loft flank and rear of the English archers. As the 
bowmen had no spears, nor long weapons, fit to defend themselves 
against horse, they were instantly thrown into disorder, and 
spread through the whole English army a confusion, from which 
they never fairly recovered. 

"The Inglis archeris schot sa fast, 

That mycht than- schot hafF ony last, 

It had bene hard to Scottis men. 

Bot King Robert, that wele gan ken 2 

That thair archeris, war peralouss, 

And thair schot rycht hard and grewouss, 

Ordanyt, forouth 3 the assemble, 

Hys marschell with a gret raenye, 

Fyve hundre armyt in to stele, 

That on lycht horss war horsyt welle, 

For to pryk 4 araang the archeris; 

And swa assaile thaim with thair speris, 

That thai na layser haifF to schute. 

This marschell that Ik of mute, 5 

1 Barbour says expressly, they avoided the New Park, (where Bruce r s army 
lay,) and held " well neath the Kirk," which can only mean St. Ninians. 
2 Know.— * Disjoined from the main body.—* Spur.— 5 That I speak oL 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 287 

That Schyr Robert of Key-th was cauld, 

.As Ik befor her has yow tauld, 

Quhen he saw the bataillis sua 

Assembill, and to gidder ga, 

And saw the archeris schoyt stoutly; 

With all thaim off his cumpany, 

In hy apon thaim gan he rid ; 

And our tuk thaim at a sid; 1 

And ruschyt amang thaim sa rudly, 

Stekand thaim sa dispitously, 

And in sic fusoun 2 berand doun, 

And slayand thaim, for owtyn ransoun ; 3 

That thai thaim scaiyt 4 euirilkane. 5 

And fra that tyme furth thar wes nane 

That assemblyt schot to ma. G 

Quhen Scottis archeris saw that thai sua 

War rebutyt, 7 thai woux hardy, 

And with all thair mycht schot egrely 

Amang the horss men, that thair raid; 

And woundis wid to thaim thai maid; 

And slew of thaim a full gret dele." 

Barbour's Bruce, Book ix., v. 218. 

Although the success of this manoeuvre was evident, it is very 
remarkable that the Scottish generals do not appear to have pro- 
fited by the lesson. Almost every subsequent battle which they 
lost against England, was decided by the archers, to whom the 
close and compact array of the Scottish phalanx afforded an 
exposed and unresisting mark. The bloody battle of Halidoun- 
hill, fought scarce twenty years afterwards, was so completely 
gained by the archers, that the English are said to have lost only 
one knight, one esquire, and a few foot-soldiers. At the battle 
of Neville's Cross^ in 1346, where David II. was defeated and 
made prisoner, John de Graham, observing the loss which the 
Scots sustained from the English bowmen, offered to charge and 
disperse them, if a hundred men-at-arms were put under his com- 
mand. " But, to confess the truth," says Fordun, " he could not 
procure a single horseman for the service proposed." Of such 
little use is experience in war, where its results are opposed by 
habit or prejudice. 

iSet upon their flank. — 2 Numbers. — s Ransom. — 4 Dispersed. — 5 Every one. 
6 Make.— 7 Driven back. 



288 APPENDIX TO THE 

Note A 2. 

To arms they flew , — axe, club, or spear, — 
And mimic ensigns high they rear. — P. 216. 

The followers of the Scottish camp observed, from the Gillie's 
Hill in the rear, the impression produced upon the English army 
by the bringing up of the Scottish reserve, and, prompted by the 
enthusiasm of the moment, or the desire of plunder, assumed, in 
a tumultuary manner, such arms as they found nearest, fastened 
sheets to tent-poles and lances, and showed themselves like a new 
army advancing to battle. 

" Yomen, and swanys,' and pitaill, 2 

That in the Park yemyt wictaill* 3 

War left; quhen thai wyst bat lesing, 4 

That thair lordis, with fell fechtyng, 

On thair fayis assemblyt wer; 

Ane off thaim selwyn 5 that war thar 

Capitane of thaim all thai maid. 

And schetis, that war sumedeie 6 brad, 

Thai festnyt in steid off baneris, 

Apon lang treys and speris: 

And said that thai wald se the fycht; 

And help thair lordis at thair mycht. 

Quhen her till all assentyt wer, 

In a rout assembiit erf 7 

Fyftene thowsand thai war, or ma. 

And than in gret hy gan thai ga, 

With thair baneris, all in a rout, 

As thai had men bene styth 8 and stout. 

Thai come, with all that assemble, 

Rycht quhill thai mycht the bataill se ; 

Than all at anys thai gave a cry, 

^Sla! Sla! Apon thaim hastily!'** 

Barbour's Bruce, Book ix., v. 410. 

The unexpected apparition, of what seemed a new army, com- 
pleted the confusion which already prevailed among the English, 
who fled in every direction, and were pursued with immense 
slaughter. The brook of Bannock, according to Barbour, was so 

1 Swains.— a Rabble.— 3 Kept the provisions.— 4 Lying.— 5 Selves.— 6 Somewhat. 
Are.— 8 Stiff. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 289 

choked with the bodies of men and horses, that it might have been 
passed dry-shod. The followers of the Scottish camp fell upon 
the disheartened fugitives, and added to the confusion and 
slaughter. Many were driven into the Forth, and perished there, 
which, by the way, could hardly have happened, had the armies 
been drawn up east and west, since, in that case, to get at the 
river, the English fugitives must have fled through the victo- 
rious army. About a short mile from the field of battle is a place 
called the Bloody Folds. Here the Earl of Gloucester is said to 
have made a stand, and died gallantly at the head of his own 
military tenants and vassals. He was much regretted by both 
sides ; and it is said the Scottish would gladly have saved his life, 
but, neglecting to wear his surcoat with armorial bearings over 
his armour, he fell unknown^ after his horse had been stabbed with 
spears. 

Sir Marmaduke Twenge, an English knight, contrived to con- 
ceal himself during the fury of the pursuit, and when it was some- 
what slackened, approached King Robert. " Whose prisoner are 
you, Sir Marmaduke V 9 said Bruce, to whom he was personally 
known. " Yours, sir," answered the knight. " I receive you," 
answered the king, and, treating him with the utmost courtesy, 
loaded him with gifts, and dismissed him without ransom. The 
other prisoners were all well treated. There might be policy in 
this, as Bruce would naturally wish to acquire the good opinion 
of the English barons, who were at this time at great variance 
with their king. But it also well accords with his high chival- 
rous character. 

Note B 2. 

O ! give their hapless prince his due. — P. 216. 

Edward II. , according to the best authorities, showed, in the 
fatal field of Bannockburn, personal gallantry not unworthy of his 
great sire and greater son. He remained on the field till forced 
away by the Earl of Pembroke, when all was lost. He then rode 
to the Castle of Stirling, and demanded admittance : but the go- 
vernor, remonstrating upon the imprudence of shutting himself 
up in that fortress, which must so soon surrender, he assembled 
Vol. V. 25 



290 APPENDIX TO THE 

around his person five hundred men-at-arms, and, avoiding the 
field of battle and the victorious army, fled towards Linlithgow, 
pursued by Douglas with about sixty horse. They were aug- 
mented by Sir Lawrence Abernethy with twenty more, whom 
Douglas met in the Tor wood upon their way to join the English 
army, and whom he easily persuaded to desert the defeated 
monarch, and to assist in the pursuit. They hung upon Edward's 
flight as far as Dunbar, too few in number to assail him with 
effect, but enough to harass his retreat so constantly, that who- 
ever fell an instant behind was instantly slain, or made prisoner. 
Edward's ignominious flight terminated at Dunbar, where the 
Earl of March, who still professed allegiance to him, " received 
him full gently." From thence, the monarch of so great an 
empire, and the late commander of so gallant and numerous an 
army, escaped to Bamborough in a fishing vessel. 

Bruce, as will appear from the following document, lost no time 
in directing the thunders of parliamentary censure against such 
part of his subjects as did not return to their natural allegiance 
after the battle of Bannockburn. 

Apud Monasterium de Cambtjskenneth, 
vi die novembris, m,ccc,xiv. 

Judicium Reditum apud Kambuskinet contra omnes illos 
qui tuncfuerunt contra fidem et pacem Domini Regis. 

Anno gracie millesimo tricentisimo quarto decimo sexto die 
Novembris tenente parliamentum suum Excellentissimo principe 
Domino Roberto Dei gracia Rege Scottorum Illustri in monas- 
terio de Cambuskyneth concordatum fuit finaliter Judicatum [ac 
super] hoc statutum de Concilio et Assensu Episcoporum et cete- 
rorum Prelatorum Comitum Baronum et aliorum nobilium regni 
Scocie nee non et tocius communitatis regni predicti quod omnes 
qui contra fidem et pacem dicti domini regis in bello seu alibi 
mortui sunt [vel qui die] to die ad pacem ejus et fidem non vene- 
rant licet sepius vocati et legitime expectati fuissent de terris et 
tenementis et omni alio statu infra regnum Scocie perpetuo sint 
exheredati et habeanturde cetero tanquam inimici Regis et Regni 
ab omni vendicacione juris hereditarii vel juris alterius cujuscun- 
que in posterum pro se et heredibus suis in perpetuum privati Ad 
perpetuam igitur rei memoriam et evidentem probacionem hujus 



LORD OP THE ISLES. 291 

Judicii et Statuti sigilla Episcoporum et aliorum Prelatorum nee 
non et comitum Baronum ac ceterorum nobilium dicti Regni pre- 
senti ordinacioni Judicio et statuto sunt appensa. 

Sigillum Domini Regis 

Sigillum Willelmi Episcopi Sancti Andree 

Sigillum Roberti Episcopi Glascuensis 

Sigillum Willelmi Episcopi Dunkeldensis 

, . . Episcopi .. „ 

• V -, Episcopi 

. . . Episcopi .....„„ 

Sigillum Alani Episcopi Sodorensis 

Sigillum Johannis Episcopi Brechynensis 

Sigillum Andree Episcopi Ergadiensis 

Sigillum Frechardi Episcopi Cathanensis 

Sigillum Abbatis de Scona 

Sigillum Abbatis de Calco 

Sigillum Abbatis de Abirbrothok 

Sigillum Abbatis de Sancta Cruce 

Sigillum Abbatis de Londoris 

Sigillum Abbatis de Newbotill 

Sigillum Abbatis de Cupro 

Sigillum Abbatis de Paslet 

Sigillum Abbatis de Dunfermelyn 

Sigillum Abbatis de Lincluden 

Sigillum Abbatis de Insula Missarum 

Sigillum Abbatis de Sancto Columba 

Sigillum Abbatis de Deer 

Sigillum Abbatis de Dulce Corde 

Sigillum Prioris de Coldinghame 

Sigillum Prioris de Rostynot 

Sigillum Prioris Sancte Andree 

Sigillum Prioris de Pettinwem 

Sigillum Prioris de Insula de Lochlevin 

Sigillum Senescalli Scocie 

Sigillum Willelmi Comitis de Ros 



Sigillum Gilberti de la Haya Constabularii Scocie 



i\ 



292 APPENDIX TO THE 

Sigillum Roberti de Keth Mariscalli Seocie 

Sigillum Hugonis de Ros 

Sigillum Jacobi de Duglas 

Sigillum Johannis de Sancto Claro 

Sigillum Thome de Ros 

Sigillum Alexandri de Settone 

Sigillum Walteri Haliburtone 

Sigillum Davidis de Balfour 

Sigillum Duncan i de Wallays 

Sigillum Thome de Dischingtone 

Sigillum Andree de Moravia 

Sigillum Archibaldi de Betun 

Sigillum Ranulphi de Lyill 

Sigillum Malcomi de Balfour 

Sigillum Normanni de Lesley 

Sigillum Nigelli de Campo bello 

Sigillum Morni de Musco Campo 



Note C2. 

Nor for De Argentine alone, 

Through Ninian's church these torches shone, 

And rose the death-prayer's awful tone. — P. 219. 

The remarkable circumstances attending the death of De Ar- 
gentine have been already noticed (p. 51.) Besides this renowned 
warrior, there fell many representatives of the noblest houses in 
England, which never sustained a more bloody and disastrous 
defeat. Barbour says that two hundred pairs of gilded spurs 
were taken from the field of battle ; and that some were left the 
author can bear witness, who has in his possession a curious an 
tique spur, dug up in the morass, not long since. 

"It wes forsuth a gret ferly, 
To se samyn 1 sa fele dede lie. 
Twa hundre payr of spurris reid, 2 
War tane of knichtis that war deid." 

I am now to take my leave of Barbour, not without a sincere 
wish that the public may encourage the undertaking of my friend 

i Together. — a Red, or gilded. 



LORD OF THE ISLES. 293 

Dr. Jamieson, who has issued proposals for publishing an accurate 
edition of his poem, and of Blind Harry's Wallace.* The only 
good edition of The Bruce was published by Mr. Pinkerton, in 
3 vols., in 1790 ; and, the learned editor having had no personal 
access to consult the manuscript, it is not without errors ; and it 
has besides become scarce. Of Wallace there is no tolerable 
edition ; yet these two poems do no small honour to the early 
state of Scottish poetry, and The Bruce is justly regarded as 
containing authentic historical facts. 

The following list of the slain at Bannockburn, extracted from 
the continuator of Trivet's Annals, will show the extent of the 
national calamity. 

List of the Slain. 
Barons and Knights Bannerets. Simon Ward, 
Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glou- Robert de Felton, 

cester, Michael Poyning, 

Robert de Clifford, Edmund Maulley. 

Payan Tybetot, Knights. 

William Le Mareschal, Henry de Boun, 

John Comyn, Thomas de UfFord, 

William de Vescey, John de Elsingfelde, 

John de Montfort, John de Harcourt, 

Nicolas de Hasteleigh, Walter de Hakelut, 

William Dayncourt, Philip de Courtenay, 

^Egidius de Argenteyne, Hugo de Scales, 

Edmond Comyn, Radulph de Beauchamp, 

John Lovel, (the rich,) John de Penbrigge, 

Edmund de Hasty nge, With thirty-three others of the 

Milo de Stapleton, same rank, not named. 

Prisoners. 
Barons and Baronets. Marmaduke de Twenge, 

Henry de Boun, Earl of Hereford, John de Wyletone, 
Lord John Giffard, Robert de Maulee, 

William de Latimer, Henry Fitz-Hugh, 

Maurice de Berkley, Thomas de Gray, 

Ingelram de Umfraville, Walter de Beauchamp, 

* [The extracts from Barbour in this edition of Sir Walter Scott's poems 
have been uniformly corrected by the text of Dr. Jamieson's Bruce, published, 
along with Blind Harry's Wallace, Edin. 1820. 2 vols. 4to. — Ed.] 

25* 



294 APPENDIX TO THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 



Richard de Charon, 
John de Wevelmton, 
Robert de Nevil, 
John de Segrave, 
Gilbert Peeche, 
John de Clavering, 
Antony de Lucy, 
Radulph de Camys, 
John de Evere, 
Andrew de Abremhyn. 

Knights. 
Thomas de Berkeley, 
The son of Roger Tyrrel, 
Anselm de Mareschal, 
Giles de Beauchamp, 
John de Cyfrewast, 
John Blu wet, 
Roger Corbet, 
Gilbert de Boun, 



Bartholomew de Enefeld, 
Thomas de Ferrers, 
Radulph and Thomas Bottetort, 
John and Nicholas de Kingstone, 

(brothers,) 
William Lovel, 
Henry de Wileton, 
Baldwin de Frevill, 
John de Clivedon, 1 
Adomar la Zouche, 
John de Merewode, 
John Maufe, 2 
Thomas and Odo Lele Ercede- 

kene, 
Robert Beaupel, (the son,) 
John Mautravers, (the son,) 
William and William Giffard, 

and thirty-four other knights, 

not named by the historian. 



And in sum there were there slain, along with the Earl of Glou- 
cester, forty-two barons and bannerets. The number of earls, 
barons, and bannerets made captive, was twenty-two, and sixty- 
eight knights. Many clerks and esquires were also there slain 
or taken. Roger de Northburge, keeper of the king's signet, 
(Custos Targice Domini Regis,) was made prisoner with his two 
clerks, Roger de Wakenfelde and Thomas de Switon, upon 
which the king caused a seal to be made, and entitled it his privy 
seal, to distinguish the same from the signet so lost. The Earl 
of Hereford was exchanged against Bruce's queen, who had been 
detained in captivity ever since the year 1306. The Targia, or 
signet, was restored to England through the intercession of Ralph 
de Monthermer, ancestor of Lord Moira, who is said to have 
found favour in the eyes of the Scottish king. — Continuation of 
Trivet's Annals, HalVs edit. Oxford, 1712, vol. ii., p. 14. 

Such were the immediate consequences of the field of Ban- 
nockburn. Its more remote effects, in completely establishing 
the national independence of Scotland, afford a boundless field 
for speculation. 

> Supposed Clinton. 2 Maule. 

END OF NOTES TO THE LORD OF THE ISLES* 






THE 



FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

A POEM. 



" Though Valois braved young Edward's gentle hand, 

And Albert rush'd on Henry's way-worn band, 

With Europe's chosen sons, in arms renown'd, 

Yet not on Vere's bold archers long they look'd, 

Nor Audley's squires nor Mowbray's yeomen brook'd, — 

They saw their standard fall, and left their monarch bound." 

Akenside. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



It may be some apology for the imperfections of 
this poem, that it was composed hastily, and during 
a short tour upon the Continent, when the Author's 
labours were liable to frequent interruption ; but its 
best apology is, that it was written for the purpose 
of assisting the Waterloo Subscription. 

Abbotsford, 1815. 

296) 



TO 

HER GRACE 

THE 

DUCHESS OF WELLINGTON 

PRINCESS OF WATERLOO, 

&c. &c. &c. 

THE FOLLOWING VERSES 

ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 






299 



THE 



FIELD OF WATERLOO. 



: 



I. 

Fair Brussels, thou art far behind, 
Though, lingering on the morning wind, 

We yet may hear the hour 
Peal'd over orchard and canal, 
With voice prolong'd and measured fall 

From proud St. Michael's tower ; 
Thy wood, dark Soignies, holds us now, 1 
Where the tall beeches' glossy bough 

For many a league around, 
With birch and darksome oak between, 
Spreads deep and far a pathless screen, 

Of tangled forest ground. 
Stems planted close by stems defy 
The adventurous foot — the curious eye 

For access seeks in vain; 
And the brown tapestry of leaves, 
Strew'd on the blighted ground, receives 

Nor sun, nor air, nor rain. 

1 [" The wood of Soignies is supposed to be a remnant of the 
forest of Ardennes, famous in Boiardo's Orlando, and immortal in 
Shakspeare's 'As you Like it.' It is also celebrated in Tacitus 
as being the spot of successful defence by the Germans against 
the Roman encroachments." — Byron.] 



300 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

No opening glade dawns on our way, 
No streamlet, glancing to the ray, 

Our w T oodland path has cross'd ; 
And the straight causeway which we tread, 
Prolongs a line of dull arcade, 
Unvarying through the unvaried shade 

Until in distance lost. 

II. 

A brighter, livelier scene succeeds: 1 
In groups the scattering wood recedes, 
Hedge-rows, and huts, and sunny meads, 

And corn-fields, glance between; 
The peasant, at his labour blithe, 
Plies the hook'd staff and shorten'd scythe: — 2 

1 [" Southward from Brussels lies the field of blood, 

Some three hours' journey for a well-girt man; 
A horseman who in haste pursued his road 

Would reach it as the second hour began. 
The way is through a forest deep and wide, 
Extending many a mile on either side. 

" No cheerful woodland this of antique trees, 

With thickets varied and with sunny glade ; 
Look where he will, the weary traveller sees 

One gloomy, thick, impenetrable shade 
Of tall straight trunks, which move before his sight, 
With interchange of lines of long green light 

"Here, where the woods receding from the road 

Have left on either hand an open space 
For fields and gardens, and for man's abode* 

Stands Waterloo ; a little lowly place 
Obscure till now, when it hath risen to fame, 
And given the victory its English name." 

Southey's Pilgrimage to Waterloo.] 

2 The reaper in Flanders carries in his left hand a stick with an 
iron hook, with which he collects as much grain as he can cut at 
one sweep with a short scythe, which he holds in his right hand. 
They carry on this double process with great spirit and dexterity. 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 301 

But when these ears v/ere green, 
Placed close within destruction's scope, 
Full little was that rustic's hope 

Their ripening to have seen ! 
And, lo, a hamlet and its fane : — 
Let not the gazer with disdain 

Their architecture view; 
For yonder rude ungraceful shrine, 
And disproportioned spire, are thine, 

Immortal Waterloo ! ? 

III. 

Fear not the heat, though full and high 
The sun has scorch'd the autumn sky, 
And scarce a forest straggler now 
To shade us spreads a greenwood bough ; 
These fields have seen a hotter day 
Than e'er was fired by sunny ray. 
Yet one mile on — yon shatter'd hedge 
Crests the soft hill whose long smooth ridge 

Looks on the fields below, 
And sinks so gently on the dale, 
That not the folds of Beauty's veil 

In easier curves can flow. 

1 [" What time the second Carlos ruled in Spain, 
Last of the Austrian line by fate decreed, 
Here Castanaza rear'd a votive fane, 

Praying the patron saints to bless with seed 
His childless sovereign. Heaven denied an heir, 
And Europe mourn'd in blood the frustrate prayer." 

Southey. 
To the original chapel of the Marquis of Castanaza has now 
been added a building of considerable extent, the whole interior 
of which is filled with monumental inscriptions for the heroes who 
fell in the battle.] 
Vol. V. 26 



302 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

Brief space from thence, the ground again 
Ascending slowly from the plain, 

Forms an opposing screen, 
Which, with its crest of upland ground, 
Shuts the horizon all around. 

The soften'd vale between 
Slopes smooth and fair for courser's tread ; 
Not the most timid maid need dread 
To give her snow-white palfrey head 

On that wide stubble-ground ; l 
Nor wood, nor tree, nor bush, are there, 
Her course to intercept or scare, 

Nor fosse nor fence are found, 
Save where, from out her shatter'd boweu, 
Rise Hougomont's dismantled towers. 

IV. 
Now, see'st thou aught in this lone scene 
Can tell of that which late hath been ? — 

A stranger might reply, 
" The bare extent of stubble-plain 
Seems lately lighten'd of its grain ; 
And yonder sable tracks remain 
Marks of the peasant's ponderous wain, 

When harvest-home was nigh. 2 

1 ["As a plain, Waterloo seems marked out for the scene of 
some great action, though this may be mere imagination. I have 
viewed with attention those of Platea, Troy, Mantinea, Leuctra, 
Chaeronea, and Marathon ; and the field around Mont St. Jean 
and Hougomont appears to want little but a better cause, and 
that indefinable but impressive halo which the lapse of ages 
throws around a consecrated spot, to vie in interest with any or 
all of these, except, perhaps, the last mentioned." — Byron.] 

2 [" Is the spot mark'd with no colossal bust, 
Nor column rrophied for triumphal show? 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 303 

On these broad spots of trampled ground, 
Perchance the rustics danced such round 

As Teniers loved to draw; 
And where the earth seems scorch'd by flame, 
To dress the homely feast they came, 
And toil'd the kerchief'd village dame 

Around her fire of straw." 

V. 

So deem'st thou — so each mortal deems, 
Of that which is from that which seems: — 

But other harvest here, 
Than that which peasant's scythe demands, 
Was gather'd in by sterner hands, 

With bayonet, blade, and spear. 
No vulgar crop was theirs to reap, 
No stinted harvest thin and cheap! 
Heroes before each fatal sweep 

Fell thick as ripen'd grain ; 

None: But the moral's truth tells simpler so, 
As the ground was before, thus let it be; — 
How that red rain hath made the harvest grow ! 
And is this all the world has gain'd by thee, 
Thou first and last of fields! king-making Victory?" 

Byron. 

"Was it a soothing or a mournful thought, 

Amid this scene of slaughter as we stood, 
Where armies had with recent fury fought, 

To mark how gentle Nature still pursued 
Her quiet course, as if she took no care 
For what her noblest work had sufier'd there. 

The pears had ripen'd on the garden wall ; 

Those leaves which on the autumnal earth were spread, 
The trees, though pierced and scared with many a ball, 

Had only in their natural season shed; 
Flowers were in seed, whose buds to swell began 
When such wild havoc here was made by man." 

Southey.] 



304 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

And ere the darkening of the day, 
Piled high as autumn shocks, there lay 
The ghastly harvest of the fray, 
The corpses of the slain. 1 

VI. 

Ay, look again — that line so black 
And trampled marks the bivouack, 
Yon deep-graved ruts the artillery's track, 

So often lost and won ; 
And close beside, the harden'd mud 
Still shows where, fetlock-deep in blood, 
The fierce dragoon, through battle's flood, 

Dash'd the. hot war-horse on. 
These spots of excavation tell 
The ravage of the bursting shell — 
And feel'st thou not the tainted steam, 
That reeks against the sultry beam, 

From yonder trenched mound? 
The pestilential fumes declare 
That Carnage has replenished there 

Her garner-house profound. 

1 [" Earth had received into her silent womb 

Her slaughter'd creatures ; horse and man they lay, 
And friend and foe, within the general tomb. 

Equal had been their lot ; one fatal day 
For all, . . one labour, . . and one place of rest 
They found within their common parent's breast. 

The passing seasons had not yet effaced 
The stamp of numerous hoofs impress'd by force 

Of cavalry, whose path might still be traced. 
Yet nature everywhere resumed her course; 

Low pansies to the sun their purple gave, 

And the soft poppy blossom'd on the grave." 

SOUTHEY.] 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 305 

VII. 

Far other harvest-home and feast, 

Than claims the boor from scythe released, 

On these scorch'd fields were known ! 
Death hover'd o'er the maddening rout, 
And, in the thrilling battle-shout, 
Sent for the bloody banquet out 

A summons of his own. 
Through rolling smoke the Demon's eye 
Could well each destined guest espy, 
Well could his ear in ecstasy 

Distinguish every tone 
That fill'd the chorus of the fray — 
From cannon-roar and trumpet-bray, 
From charging squadrons' wild hurra, 
From the wild clang that mark'd their way, — 

Down to the dying groan, 
And the last sob of life's decay, 

When breath was all but flown. 

VIII. 

Feast on, stern foe of mortal life, 
Feast on! — but think not that a strife, 
With such promiscuous carnage rife, 

Protracted space may last; 
The deadly tug of war at length 
Must limits find in human strength, 

And cease when these are past. 
Vain hope! — that morn's o'erclouded sun 
Heard the wild shout of fight begun 

Ere he attain'd his height, 
And through the war-smoke, volumed high, 
Still peals that unremitted cry, 

Though now he stoops to night. 
26* 



306 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

For ten long hours of doubt and dread, 
Fresh succours from the extended head 
Of either hill the contest fed ; 

Still down the slope they drew, 
The charge of columns paused not, 
Nor ceased the storm of shell and shot; 

For all that war could do 
Of skill and force was proved that day, 
And turn'd not yet the doubtful fray 

On bloody Waterloo. 

IX. 

Pale Brussels ! then what thoughts were thine, 1 
When ceaseless from the distant line 

Continued thunders came ! 
Each burgher held his breath, to hear 
These forerunners of havoc near, 

Of rapine and of flame. 
What ghastly sights were thine to meet, 
When rolling through thy stately street, 
The wounded show'd their mangled plight 
In token of the unfinished fight, 
And from each anguish-laden wain 
The blood-drops laid thy dust like rain ! 2 

1 It was affirmed by the prisoners of war, that Bonaparte had 
promised his army, in case of victory, twenty-four hours' plunder 
of the city of Brussels. 

2 [" Within those walls there linger'd at that hour 

Many a brave soldier on the bed of pain, 

Whom aid of human art should ne'er restore 

To see his country and his friends again ; 

And many a victim of that fell debate, 

Whose life yet waver'd in the scales of fate. 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 307 

How often in the distant drum 
Heard'st thou the fell Invader come, 
While Ruin, shouting to his band, 
Shook high her torch and gory brand! — 
Cheer thee, fair City ! From yon stand, 
Impatient, still his outstretch'd hand 

Points to his prey in vain, 
While maddening in his eager mood, 
And all unwont to be withstood, 

He fires the fight again. 

X. 

" On ! On ! " was still his stern exclaim ; 
" Confront the battery's jaws of flame ! 

Rush on the levelPd gun ! 
My steel-clad cuirassiers, advance ! 
Each Hulan forward with his lance, 



"Others in wagons borne abroad I saw, 

Albeit recovering, still a mournful sight; 
Languid and helpless, some were stretch'd on straw, 

Some more advanced, sustain'd themselves upright, 
And with bold eye and careless front, methought, 
Seem'd to set wounds and death again at nought. 

"What had it been, then, in the recent days 
Of that great triumph, when the open wound 

Was festering, and along the crowded ways, 
Hour after hour was heard the incessant sound 

Of wheels, which o'er the rough and stony road 

Convey'd their living agonizing load! 

"Hearts little to the melting mood inclined, 

Grew sick to see their sufferings'; and the thought 

Still comes with horror to the shuddering mind 
Of those sad days, when Belgian ears were taught 

The British soldier's cry, half groan, half prayer, 

Breathed when his pain is more than he can bear." 

Southey.] 



308 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

My Guard — my Chosen — charge for France, 

France and NapoLeon!" 1 
Loud answer'd their acclaiming shout, 
Greeting the mandate which sent out 
Their bravest and their best to dare 
The fate their leader shunn'd to share. 2 

1 The characteristic obstinacy of Napoleon was never more 
fully displayed than in what we may be permitted to hope will 
prove the last of his fields. He would listen to no advice, and 
allow of no obstacles. An eyewitness has given the following 
account of his demeanour towards the end of the action : — 

" It was near seven o'clock ; Bonaparte, who till then had 
remained upon the ridge of the hill whence he could best behold 
what passed, contemplated with a stern countenance, the scene 
of this horrible slaughter. The more that obstacles seemed to 
multiply, the more his obstinacy seemed to increase. He became 
indignant at these unforeseen difficulties ; and, far from fearing 
to push to extremities an army whose confidence in him was 
boundless, he ceased not to pour down fresh troops, and to give 
orders to march forward — to charge with the bayonet — to carry 
by storm. He was repeatedly informed, from different points, 
that the day went against him, and that the troops seemed to be 
disordered ; to which he only replied, — * En-avant ! En-avant ! ' 

" One general sent to inform the Emperor that he was in a 
position which he could not maintain, because it was commanded 
by a battery, and requested to know, at the same time, in what 
way he should protect his division from the murderous fire of the 
English artillery. ' Let him storm the battery !' replied Bona- 
parte, and turned his back on the aide-de-camp who brought the 
message." — Relatione de la Bataille de Mont-St-Jean. Par un 
Temoin Oculaire. Paris, 1815, 8vo, p. 51. 

2 It has been reported that Bonaparte charged at the head of 
his guards, at the last period of this dreadful conflict. This, 
however, is not accurate. He came down indeed to a hollow 
part of the high road, leading to Charleroi, within less than a 
quarter of a mile of the farm of La Haye Sainte, one of the 
points most fiercely disputed. Here he harangued the guards, 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 309 

But He, his country's sword and shield, 
Still in the battle-front reveal'd, 
Where danger fiercest swept the field, 

Came like a beam of light, 
In action prompt, in sentence brief — 
" Soldiers, stand firm," exclaim'd the Chief, 

"England shall tell the fight!" 1 

and informed them that his preceding operations had destroyed 
the British infantry and cavalry, and that they had only to sup 
port the fire of the artillery, which they were to attack with the 
bayonet. This exhortation was received with shouts of Vive 
VEmpereur, which were heard over all our line, and led to an 
idea that Napoleon was charging in person. But the guards 
were led on by Ney ; nor did Bonaparte approach nearer the 
scene of action than the spot already mentioned, which the rising 
banks on each side rendered secure from all such balls as did not 
come in a straight line. He witnessed the earlier part of the 
battle from places yet more remote, particularly from an observa- 
tory which had been placed there by the King of the Nether- 
lands, some weeks before, for the purpose of surveying the coun- 
try.* It is not meant to infer from these particulars that Napo- 
leon showed, on that memorable occasion, the least deficiency in 
personal courage ; on the contrary, he evinced the greatest com- 
posure and presence of mind during the whole action. But it is 
no less true that report has erred in ascribing to him any despe- 
rate efforts of valour for recovery of the battle ; and it is remark- 
able, that during the whole carnage, none of his suite were either 
killed or wounded, whereas scarcely one of the Duke of Wel- 
lington's personal attendants escaped unhurt. 

1 In riding up to a regiment which was hard pressed, the DuKe 
called to the men, " Soldiers, we must never be beat, — what will 
they say in England?" It is needless to say how this appeal was 
answered. 

* The mistakes concerning this observatory have been mutual. The English 
supposed it was erected for the use of Bonaparte : and a French writer affirms 
it was constructed by the Duke of Wellington. 



310 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO, 

XL 

On came the whirlwind — like the last 
But fiercest sweep of tempest-blast — 
On came the whirlwind — steel-gleams broke 
Like lightning through the rolling smoke; 

The war was waked anew, 
Three hundred cannon-mouths roar'd loud, 
And from their throats, with flash and cloud, 

Their showers of iron threw. 
Beneath their fire, in full career, 
Rush'd on the ponderous cuirassier, 
The lancer couch'd his ruthless spear, 
And hurrying as to havoc near, 

The cohorts' eagles flew. 
In one dark torrent, broad and strong, 
The advancing onset roll'd along, 
Forth harbinger'd by fierce acclaim, 
That, from the shroud of smoke and flame, 
Peal'd wildly the imperial name. 

XII. 

But on the British heart were lost 

The terrors of the charging host; 

For not an eye the storm that view'd 

Changed its proud glance of fortitude, 

Nor was one forward footstep staid, 

As dropp'd the dying and the dead. 

Fast as their ranks the thunders tear, 

Fast they renew'd each serried square ; 

And on the wounded and the slain 

Closed their diminished files again, 

Till from their line scarce spears' lengths three, 

Emerging from the smoke they see 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 311 

Helmet, and plume, and panoply, — 

Then waked their fire at once ! 
Each musketeer's revolving knell. 
As fast, as regularly fell, 
As when they practise to display 
Their discipline on festal day. 

Then down went helm and lance, 
Down were the eagle banners sent, 
Down reeling steeds and riders went. 
Corslets were pierced, and pennons rent; 

And, to augment the fray, 
WheePd full against their staggering flanks, 
The English horsemen's foaming ranks 

Forced their resistless way. 
Then to the musket-knell succeeds 
The clash of swords — the neigh of steeds — 
As plies the smith his clanging trade, 1 
Against the cuirass rang the blade : 2 
And while amid their close array 
The well-served cannon rent their way, 
And while amid their scatter'd band 
Raged the fierce rider's bloody brand, 
Recoil'd in common rout and fear, 
Lancer and guard and cuirassier, 
Horsemen and foot, — a mingled host, 
Their leaders fall'n, their standards lost. 

1 A private soldier of the 95th regiment compared the sound 
which took place immediately upon the British cavalry mingling 
with those of the enemy, to " a thousand tinkers at work mend- 
ing pots and kettles." 

2 ["I heard the broadswords' deadly clang, 
As if an hundred anvils rang ! " 

Lady of the L/ike.] 



312 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

XIII. 

Then, Wellington ! thy piercing eye 
This crisis caught of destiny — 

The British host had stood 
That morn 'gainst charge of sword and lance * 
As their own ocean-rocks hold stance, 
But when thy voice had said, " Advance ! " 

They were their ocean's flood. — 

Thou, whose inauspicious aim 

Hath wrought thy host this hour of shame, 
Think'st thou thy broken bands will bide 
The terrors of yon rushing tide? 
Or will thy chosen brook to feel 
The British shock of levell'd steel, 2 

1 [The cuirassiers continued their dreadful onset, and rode up 
to the squares in the full confidence, apparently, of sweeping 
every thing before the impetuosity of their charge. Their onset 
and reception was like a furious ocean pouring itself against a 
chain of insulated rocks. The British squares stood unmoved, 
and never gave fire until the cavalry were within ten yards, 
when men rolled one way, horses galloped another, and the cui- 
rassiers were in every instance driven back." — Life of Bona- 
parte, vol. viii. p. 487.] 

2 No persuasion or authority could prevail upon the French 
troops to stand the shock of the bayonet. The Imperial Guards, 
in particular, hardly stood till the British were within thirty yards 
of them, although the French author, already quoted, has put into 
their mouths the magnanimous sentiment, " The Guards never 
yield — they die." The same author has covered the plateau, or 
eminence, of St. Jean, which formed the British position, with 
redoubts and intrenchments which never had an existence. As 
the narrative, which is in many respects curious, was written by 
an eyewitness, he was probably deceived by the appearance of a 
road and ditch which run along part of the hill. It may be also 
mentioned, in criticising this work, that the writer mentions the 






THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 313 

Or dost thou turn thine eye 
Where coming squadrons gleam afar, 
And fresher thunders wake the war, 

And other standards fly? — 
Think not that in yon columns, file 
Thy conquering troops from distant Dyle — 

Is Blucher yet unknown? 
Or dwells not in thy memory still, 
(Heard frequent in thine hour of ill,) 
What notes of hate and vengeance thrill 

In Prussia's trumpet tone ? — 
What yet remains? — shall it be thine 
To head the relics of thy line 

In one dread effort more? — 
The Roman lore thy leisure loved, 
And thou canst tell what fortune proved 

That Chieftain, who, of yore, 
Ambition's dizzy paths essay'd, 
And with the gladiators' aid 

For empire enterprised — 
He stood the cast his rashness play'd, 
Left not the victims he had made, 



Chateau of Hougomont to have been carried by the French, 
although it was resolutely and successfully defended during the 
whole action. The enemy, indeed, possessed themselves of the 
wood by which it is surrounded, and at length set fire to the 
house itself; but the British (a detachment of the Guar.is, under 
the command of Colonel Macdonnell, and afterwards of Colonel 
Home) made good the garden, and thus preserved, by their des- 
perate resistance, the post which covered the return of the Duke 
of Wellington's right flank. 

Vol. V. 27 



314 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

Dug his red grave with his own blade, 
And on the field he lost was laid, 
Abhorr'd — but not despised. 1 

XIV. 
But if revolves thy fainter thought 
On safety — howsoever bought, 
Then turn thy fearful rein and ride, 
Though twice ten thousand men have died 

On this eventful day, 
To gild the military fame 
Which thou, for life, in traffic tame 

Wilt barter thus away. 
Shall future ages tell this tale 
Of inconsistence faint and frail ? 

1 [" When the engagement was ended, it evidently appeared 
with what undaunted spirit and resolution Catiline's army had 
been fired ; for the body of every one was found on that very 
spot which, during the battle, he had occupied; those only 
excepted who were forced from their posts by the Praetorian 
cohort; and even they, though they fell a little out of their 
ranks, were all wounded before. Catiline himself was found, 
far from his own men, amidst the dead bodies of the enemy, 
breathing a little, with an air of that fierceness still in his face 
which he had w^hen alive. Finally, in all his army, there was 
not so much as one free citizen taken prisoner, either in the 
engagement or in flight ; for they spared their own lives as little 
as those of the enemy. The army of the republic obtained the 
victory, indeed, but it was neither a cheap nor a joyful one, for 
their bravest men were either slain in battle or dangerously 
wounded. As there were many, too, who went to view the 
field, either out of curiosity or a desire of plunder, in turning 
over the dead bodies, some found a friend, some a relation, and 
some a guest ; others there were likewise who discovered their 
enemies ; so that, through the whole army, there appeared a mix- 
ture of gladness and sorrow, joy and mourning." — Sallust.] 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 315 

And art thou He of Lodi's bridge, 
Marengo's field, and Wagram's ridge! 

Or is thy soul like mountain-tide, 
That, swell'd by winter storm and shower, 
Rolls down in turbulence of power, 

A torrent fierce and wide ; 
Reft of these aids, a rill obscure, 
Shrinking unnoticed, mean and poor, 

Whose channel shows display'd 
The wrecks of its impetuous course, 
But not one symptom of the force 

By which these wrecks were made ! 

XV. 

Spur on thy way! — since now thine ear 
Has brook'd thy veterans' wish to hear, 

Who, as thy flight they eyed, 
Exclaim'd, — while tears of anguish came, 
Wrung forth by pride, and rage, and shame, — 

"O, that he had but died!" 
But yet, to sum this hour of ill, 
Look, ere thou leavest the fatal hill, 

Back on yon broken ranks — 
Upon whose wild confusion gleams 
The moon, as on the troubled streams 

When rivers break their banks, 
And, to the ruin'd peasant's eye 
Objects half seen roll swiftly by, 

Down the dread current hurl'd — 
So mingle banner, wain, and gun, 
Where the tumultuous flight rolls on 
Of warriors, who, when morn begun, 

Defied a banded world. 



316 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

XVI. 

List — frequent to the hurrying rout, 
The stern pursuers' vengeful shout 
Tells, that upon their broken rear 
Rages the Prussian's bloody spear. 

So fell a shriek was none, 
When Beresina's icy flood 
Redden'd and thaw'd with flame and blood, 
And, pressing on thy desperate way, 
Raised oft and long their wild hurra, 

The children of the Don. 
Thine ear no yell of horror cleft 
So ominous, when, all bereft 
Of aid, the valiant Polack left — l 
Ay, left by thee — found soldier's grave 
In Leipsic's corpse-encumber'd wave. 
Fate, in those various perils past, 
Reserved thee still some future cast; 
On the dread die thou now hast thrown 
Hangs not a single field alone, 
Nor one campaign — thy martial fame, 
Thy empire, dynasty, and name, 

Have felt the final stroke ; 
And now, o'er thy devoted head 
The last stern vial's wrath is shed, 

The last dread seal is broke. 2 



1 [For an account of the death of Poniatowski at Leipsic, see 
Sir Walter Scott's Life of Bonaparte, vol. vii. p. 588.] 

2 [" I, who with faith unshaken from the first, 

Even when the tyrant seem'd to touch the skies, 
Had look'd to see the high-blown bubble burst, 

And for a fall conspicuous as his rise, 
Even in thai faith had look'd not for defeat 
Sa wift, so overwhelming, so complete." — Southey.] 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 317 

XVIL 

Since live thou wilt— refuse not now 
Before these demagogues to bow, 
Late objects of thy scorn and hate, 
Who shall thy once imperial fate 
Make wordy theme of vain debate. — 
Or shall we say, thou stoop'st less low 
In seeking refuge from the foe, 
Against whose heart, in prosperous life, 
Thine hand hath ever held the knife? 

Such homage hath been paid 
By Roman and by Grecian voice, 
And there were honour in the choice, 

If it were freely made. 
Then safely come — in one so low, — 
So lost, — we cannot own a foe; 
Though dear experience bid us end, 
In thee we ne'er can hail a friend. — 
Come, howsoe'er — but do not hide 
Close in my heart that germ of pride, 
Erewhile, by gifted bard espied, 

That " yet imperial hope ; " l 
Think not that for a fresh rebound, 
To raise ambition from the ground, 

We yield thee means or scope. 

1 [" The Desolator desolate ! 

The Victor overthrown ! 
The Arbiter of others' fate 

A Suppliant for his own ! 
Is it some yet imperial hope, 
That with such change can calmly cope ? 

Or dread of death alone ? 
To die a prince — or live a slave — 
Thy choice is most ignobly brave ! " 

Byron's Ode to Napoleon.'] 

27* 



S18 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

In safety come — but ne'er again 
Hold type of independent reign ; 

No islet calls thee lord, 
We leave thee no confederate band, 
No symbol of thy lost command, 
To be a dagger in the hand 

From which we wrench'd the sword. 

XVIII. 

Yet, even in yon sequester'd spot, 
May worthier conquest be thy lot 

Than yet thy life has known; 
Conquest, unbought by blood or harm, 
That needs nor foreign aid nor arm, 

A triumph all thine own. 
Such waits thee when thou shalt control 
Those passions wild, that stubborn soul, 

That marr'd thy prosperous scene : — 
Hear this, from no unmoved heart, 
Which sighs, comparing what thou art 

With what thou might'st have been ! l 

XIX. 

Thou, too, whose deeds of fame renew'd 
Bankrupt a nation's gratitude, 

1 ["'Tis done — but yesterday a King! 

And arm'd with Kings to strive — 
And now thou art a nameless thing; 

So abject — yet alive! 
Is this the man of thousand thrones, 
Who strew'd our earth with hostile bones, 

And can he thus survive? 
Since he, miscalled the Morning Star, 
Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far." 

Byron's Ode to Napoleon.] 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 319 

To thine own noble heart must owe 
More than the meed she can bestow. 
For not a people's just acclaim, 
Not the full hail of Europe's fame, 
Thy Prince's smiles, thy state's decree, 
The Ducal rank, the garter'd knee, 
Not these such pure delight afford 
As that, when hanging up thy sword, 
Well mayst thou think, " This honest steel 
Was ever drawn for public weal; 
And, such was rightful Heaven's decree, 
Ne'er sheathed unless with victory]" 

XX. 

Look forth, once more, with soften'd heart, 
Ere from the field of fame we part; 1 
Triumph and sorrow border near, 
And joy oft melts into a tear. 
Alas ! what links of love that morn 
Has War's rude hand asunder torn! 
For ne'er was field so sternly fought, 
And ne'er was conquest dearer bought. 
Here piled in common slaughter sleep 
Those whom affection long shall weep : 
Here rests the sire, that ne'er shall strain 
His orphans to his heart again; 
The son, whom, on his native shore, 
The parent's voice shall bless no more; 

1 [" We left the field of battle in such mood 

As human hearts from thence should bear away; 
And musing thus, our purposed route pursued, 

Which still through scenes of recent bloodshed lay, 
Where Prussia late, with strong and stern delight, 
Hung on her fated foes to persecute their flight." 

Southey.] 



320 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

The bridegroom, who has hardly press'd 

His blushing consort to his breast ; 

The husband, whom through many a year 

Long love and mutual faith endear. 

Thou canst not name one tender tie, 

But here dissolved its relics lie ! 

O ! when thou see'st some mourner's veil 

Shroud her thin form and visage pale, 

Or mark'st the Matron's bursting tears 

Stream when the stricken drum she hears ^ 

Or see'st how manlier grief, suppress'd, 

Is labouring in a father's breast, — 

With no enquiry vain pursue 

The cause, but think on Waterloo! 

XXL 

Period of honour as of woes, 

What bright careers 'twas thine to close! — 

Mark'd on thy roll of blood what names 

To Britain's memory, and to Fame's, 

Laid there their last immortal claims f 

Thou savv'st in seas of gore expire 

Redoubted Pictoiv's soul of fire — 

Saw'st in the mingled carnage lie 

All that of Ponsonby could die — 

De Lancey change Love's bridal-wreath, 

For laurels from the hand of Death — l 

1 [The Poet's friend, Colonel Sir William De Lancey, married 
the beautiful daughter of Sir James Hall, Bait., in April, 1815, 
and received his mortal wound on the 18th of June. See Cap- 
tain B. Hall's affecting narrative in the first series of his " Frag- 
ments of Voyages and Travels," vol. ii. p. 369.] 






THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 321 

Saw'st gallant Miller's 1 failing eye 
Still bent where Albion's banners fly, 
And Cameron, 2 in the shock of steel, 
Die like the offspring of Lochiel; 
And generous Gordon, 3 'mid the strife, 
Fall while he watch'd his leader's life. — 
Ah ! though her guardian angel's shield 
Fenced Britain's hero through the field, 
Fate not the less her power made known, 
Through his friends' hearts to pierce his own! 

XXII. 

Forgive, brave Dead, the imperfect lay! 
Who may your names, your numbers, say? 
What high-strung harp, what lofty line, 
To each the dear-earn'd praise assign, 
From high-born chiefs of martial fame 
To the poor soldier's lowlier name? 
Lightly ye rose that dawning day, 
From your cold couch of swamp and clay, 

1 [Colonel Miller, of the Guards— son to Sir Wm. Miller, Lord 
Glenlee. When mortally wounded in the attack on the Bois de 
Bossu, he desired to see the colours of the regiment once more 
ere he died. They were waved over his head, and the expiring 
officer declared himself satisfied.] 

2 [" Colonel Cameron, of Fassiefern, so often distinguished in 
Lord Wellington's despatches from Spain, fell in the action at 
Quatre Bras, (16th June, 1815,) while leading the 92d, or Gor- 
don Highlanders, to charge a body of cavalry, supported by infan- 
try."— PauVs Letters, p. 91.] 

3 [Colonel the Honourable Sir Alexander Gordon, brother to 
the Earl of Aberdeen, who has erected a pillar on the spot where 
he fell by the side of the Duke of Wellington,] 



322 THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

To fill, before the sun was low, 
The bed that morning cannot know- — 
Oft may the tear the green sod steep, 
And sacred be the heroes' sleep, 

Till time shall cease to run ; 
And ne'er beside their noble grave, 
May Briton pass and fail to crave 
A blessing on the fallen brave 

Who fought with Wellington! 

XXIII. 

Farewell, sad Field! whose blighted face 
Wears desolation's withering trace; 
Long shall my memory retain 
Thy shatter'd huts and trampled grain, 
With every mark of martial wrong, 
That scathe thy towers, fair Hougomont ! 

1 ["Beyond these points the fight extended not, 

Small theatre for such a tragedy ! 
Its breadth scarce more, from eastern Popelot 

To where the groves of Hougomont on high 
Rear in the west their venerable head, 
And cover with their shade the countless dead. 

"But wouidst thou tread this celebrated ground, 
And trace with understanding eyes a scene 

Above all other fields of war renown'd, 
From western Hougomont thy way begin,* 

There was our strength on that side, and there first, 

In all its force, the storm of battle burst. — Southey. 

Mr. Southey adds, in a note on these verses: "So important 
a battle, perhaps, was never before fought within so small an 
extent of ground. I computed the distance between Hougomont 
and Popelot at three miles ; in a straight line it might probably 
not exceed two and a half. 

" Our guide was very much displeased at the name which the 
battle had obtained in England, — 'Why call it the battle of 



THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 323 

Yet though thy garden's green arcade 
The marksman's fatal post was made, 
Though on thy shatter'd beeches fell 
The blended rage of shot and shell, 
Though from thy blacken'd portals torn, 
Their fall thy blighted fruit-trees mourn, 
Has not such havoc bought a name 
Immortal in the rolls of fame ? 
Yes — Agincourt may be forgot, 
And Cressy be an unknown spot, 

And Blenheim's name be new ; 
But still in story and in song, 
For many an age remember'd long, 
Shall live the towers of Hougomont, 

And Field of Waterloo. 

Waterloo V he said, — ■ Call it Hougomont, call it La Haye Sainte, 
call it Popelot, — any thing but Waterloo.'" — Pilgrimage to 
Waterloo.] 



324 



CONCLUSION. 



Stern tide of human Time ! that know'st not rest, 
But, sweeping from the cradle to the tomb, 
Bear'st ever downward on thy dusky breast 
Successive generations to their doom ; 
While thy capacious stream has equal room 
For the gay bark where Pleasure's streamers sport, 
And for the prison-ship of guilt and gloom, 
The fisher-skiff, and barge that bears a court, 
Still wafting onward all to one dark silent port ; — 

Stern tide of Time ! through what mysterious change 
Of hope and fear have our frail barks been driven ! 
For ne'er, before, vicissitude so strange 
Was to one race of Adam's offspring given. 
And sure such varied change of sea and heaven, 
Such unexpected bursts of joy and woe, 
Such fearful strife as that where we have striven, 
Succeeding ages ne'er again shall know, 
Until the awful term when Thou shalt cease to flow. 

Well hast thou stood, my Country ! — the brave figi 
Hast well maintain'd through good report and ill ; 
In thy just cause and in thy native might, 
And in Heaven's grace and justice constant still ; 
Whether the banded prowess, strength, and skill 
Of half the world against thee stood array'd, 
Or when, with better views and freer will, 
Beside thee Europe's noblest drew the blade, 
Each emulous in arms the Ocean Queen to aid. 



CONCLUSION. 325 

Well art thou now repaid — though slowly rose, 
And struggled long with mists thy blaze of fame, 
While like the dawn that in the orient glows 
On the broad wave its earlier lustre came ; 
Then eastern Egypt saw the growing flame, 
And Maida's myrtles gleam'd beneath its ray, 
Where first the soldier, stung with generous shame, 
RivalPd the heroes of the wat'ry way, 
And wash'd in foemen's gore unjust reproach away. 

Now, Island Empress, wave thy crest on high, 
And bid the banner of thy Patron flow, 
Gallant Saint George, the flower of Chivalry, 
For thou hast faced, like him, a dragon foe, 
And rescued innocence from overthrow. 
And trampled down, like him, tyrannic might, 
And to the gazing world mayst proudly show 
The chosen emblem of thy sainted Knight, 
Who quelFd devouring pride, and vindicated right. 

Yet 'mid the confidence of just renown, 
Renown dear-bought, but dearest thus acquired, 
Write, Britain, write the moral lesson down : 
*T is not alone the heart with valour fired, 
The discipline so dreaded and admired, 
In many a field of bloody conquest known ; 
— Such may by fame be lured, by gold be hired — 
'Tis constancy in the good cause alone, 
Best justifies the meed thy valiant sons have won. 

END OF THE FIELD OF WATERLOO. 

Vol. V. 28 






SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 



I 



3 9 



SAINT CLOUD. 

[Paris, 5th September, 1815.] 



Soft spread the southern summer night 

Her veil of darksome hlue ; 
Ten thousand stars combined to light 

The terrace of Saint Cloud. 

The evening breezes gently sigh'd, 

Like breath of lover true, 
Bewailing the deserted pride 

And wreck of sweet Saint Cloud. 

The drum's deep roll was heard afar, 

The bugle wildly blew 
Good-night to Hulan and Hussar, 

That garrison Saint Cloud. 

The startled Naiads from the shade 
With broken urns withdrew, 

And silenced was that proud cascade, 
The glory of Saint Cloud. 

We sate upon its steps of stone, 

Nor could its silence rue, 
When waked, to music of our own, 

The echoes of Saint Cloud. 



3 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES, 

Slow Seine might hear each lovely note 

Fall light as summer dew, 
While through the moonless air they float, 

Prolonged from fair Saint Cloud. 

And sure a melody more sweet 

His waters never knew, 
Though music's self was wont to meet 

With Princes at Saint Cloud. 

Nor then, with more delighted ear, 

The circle round her drew, 
Than ours, when gather'd round to hear 

Our songstress 1 at St. Cloud. 

Few happy hours poor mortals pass, — 
Then give those hours their due, 

And rank among the foremost class 
Our evenings at Saint Cloud. 

1 [These lines were written after an evening 1 spent at Saint 
Cloud with the late Lady Alvanley and her daughters, one of 
whom was the songstress alluded to in the text.] 






THE 

DANCE OF DEATH. 1 



L 

Night and morning were at meeting 

Over Waterloo; 
Cocks had sung their earliest greeting; 

Faint and low they crew, 
For no paly beam yet shone 
On the heights of Mount Saint John; 
Tempest-clouds prolong'd the sway 
Of timeless darkness over day ; 
Whirlwind, thunder-clap, and shower. 
Mark'd it a predestined hour. 
Broad and frequent through the night 
Flash'd the sheets of levin-light ; 
Muskets, glancing lightnings back, 
Show'd the dreary bivouack 

Where the soldier lay, 
Chill and stiff, and drench'd with rain, 
Wishing dawn of morn again, 

Though death should come with day. 

II. 
'Tis at such a tide and hour, 
Wizard, witch, and fiend, have power, 

1 [Originally published in 1815, in the Edinburgh Annual 
Register, vol. v.] 



332 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

And ghastly forms through mist and shower 

Gleam on the gifted ken; 
And then the affrighted prophet's ear 
Drinks whispers strange of fate and fear, 
Presaging death and ruin near 

Among the sons of men; — 
Apart from Albyn's war-array, 
'T was then grey Allan sleepless lay ; 
Grey Allan, who, for many a day, 

Had follow'd stout and stern, 
Where, through battle's rout and reel, 
Storm of shot and hedge of steel, 
Led the grandson of Lochiel, 

Valiant Fassiefern. 
Through steel and shot he leads no more, 
Low laid 'mid friends' and foemen's gore — 
But long his native lake's wild shore, 
And Sunart rough, and high Ardgower 

And Morven long shall tell, 
And proud Bennevis hear with awe, 
How, upon bloody Quatre-Bras, 
Brave Cameron heard the wild hurra 

Of conquest as he fell. 1 

III. 

'Lone on the outskirts of the host, 

The weary sentinel held post, 

And heard, through darkness far aloof, 

The frequent clang of courser's hoof, 

Where held the cloak'd patrol their course, 

And spurr'd 'gainst storm the swerving horse ; 

1 [See note, ante, p. 321.] 



THE DANCE OF DEATH. 333 

But there are sounds in Allan's ear, 
Patrol nor sentinel may hear, 
And sights before his eye aghast 
Invisible to them have pass'd, 

When down the destined plain, 
'Twixt Britain and the bands of France, 
Wild as marsh-borne meteors glance, 
Strange phantoms wheel'd a revel dance, 

And doom'd the future slain. — 
Such forms were seen, such sounds were heard 
When Scotland's James his march prepared 

For Flodden's fatal plain; 1 
Such, when he drew his ruthless sword, 
As Choosers of the Slain, adored 

The yet unchristen'd Dane. 
An indistinct and phantom band, 
They wheel'd their ring-dance hand in hand, 

With gestures wild and dread; 
The Seer, who watch'd them ride the storm, 
Saw through their faint and shadowy form 

The lightning's flash more red; 
And still their ghastly roundelay 
Was of the coming battle-fray, 

And of the destined dead. 

IV. 

Song. 

Wheel the wild dance 
While lightnings glance, 

1 [See ante, vol. ii., Marmion, canto v., stanzas 24, 25, 26, an£ 
Appendix, Note N, p. 331.] 



334 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

And thunders rattle loud, 
And call the brave 
To bloody grave, 

To sleep without a shroud. 

Our airy feet, 
So light and fleet, 

They do not bend the rye 
That sinks its head when whirlwinds rave, 
And swells again in eddying wave, 

As each wild gust blows by; 

But still the corn, 
At dawn of morn, 

Our fatal steps that bore, 
At eve lies waste, 
A trampled paste 

Of blackening mud and gore. 

V. 

Wheel the wild dance 
While lightnings glance, 

And thunders rattle loud, 
And call the brave 
To bloody grave, 

To sleep without a shroud. 

Wheel the wild dance! 
Brave sons of France, 

For you our ring makes room; 
Make space full wide 
For martial pride, 

For banner, spear, and plume. 
Approach, draw near, 
Proud cuirassier! 



THE DANCE OF DEATH. 335 

Room for the men of steel ! 
Through crest and plate 
The broadsword's weight 

Both head and heart shall feel. 

VI. 

Wheel the wild dance 
While lightnings glance, 

And thunders rattle loud, 
And call the brave 
To bloody grave, 

To sleep without a shroud. 

Sons of the spear! 
You feel us near 

In many a ghastly dream; 
With fancy's eye 
Our forms you spy, 

And hear our fatal scream. 
With clearer sight 
Ere falls the night, 

Just when to weal or woe 
Your disembodied souls take flight 
On trembling wing — each startled sprite 

Our choir of death shall know. 

VII. 

Wheel the wild dance 
While lightnings glance, 

And thunders rattle loud, 
And call the brave 
To bloody grave, 

To sleep without a shroud. 



336 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Burst, ye clouds, in tempest showers, 
Redder rain shall soon be ours — 

See the east grows wan — 
Yield we place to sterner game, 
Ere deadlier bolts and direr flame 
Shall the welkin's thunders shame ; 
Elemental rage is tame 

To the wrath of man. 

VIII. 

At morn, grey Allan's mates with awe 
Heard of the vision'd sights he saw, 

The legend heard him say ; 
But the Seer's gifted eye was dim, 
Deafen'd his ear, and stark his limb, 

Ere closed that bloody day — 
He sleeps far from his Highland heath,— 
But often of the Dance of Death 

His comrades tell the tale, 
On picquet-post, when ebbs the night, 
And waning watch-fires glow less bright, 

And dawn is glimmering pale. 



337 



ROMANCE OF DUNOIS. 



FROM THE FRENCH. 



The original of this little Romance makes part of a manuscript 
collection of French Songs, probably compiled by some young 
officer, which was found on the Field of Waterloo, so much 
stained with clay and with blood, as sufficiently to indicate 
what had been the fate of its late owner. The song is popu- 
lar in France, and is rather a good specimen of the style 
of composition to which it belongs. The translation is 
strictly literal.] 2 



It was Dunois, the young and brave, was bound for 

Palestine, 
But first he made his orisons before St. Mary's shrine : 
" And grant, immortal Queen of Heaven," was still the 

Soldier's prayer, 
" That I may prove the bravest knight, and love the 

fairest fair." 

1 [This ballad appeared in 1815, in Paul's Letters, and in the 
Edinburgh Annual Register. It has since been set to music by 
G. F. Graham, Esq., in Mr. Thomson's Select Melodies, &c.] 

2 [The original romance, 

"Partant pour la Syrie, 

Le jeune et brave Dunois," &c. 

was written, and set to music also, by Hortense Beauharnois, 
Duchesse de St. Leu, Ex-queen of Holland.] 
Vol. V. 29 



338 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

His oath of honour on the shrine he graved it with his 

sword, 
And follow'd to the Holy Land the banner of his Lord ; 
Where, faithful to his noble vow, his war-cry fill'd the 

air, 
"Be honour'd aye the bravest knight, beloved the 

fairest fair." 

They owed the conquest to his arm, and then his Liege 

Lord said, 
" The heart that has for honour beat by bliss must be 

repaid. — 
My daughter Isabel and thou shall be a wedded pair, 
For thou art bravest of the brave, she fairest of the 

fair." 

And then they bound the holy knot before Saint Mary's 

shrine, 
That makes a paradise on earth, if hearts and hands 

combine ; 
And every lord and lady bright, that were in chapel 

there, 
Cried, " Honour'd be the bravest knight, beloved the 

fairest fair!" 



339 

THE TROUBADOUR. 1 

FROM THE SAME COLLECTION. 



Glowing with love, on fire for fame, 

A Troubadour that hated sorrow, 
Beneath his Lady's window came, 

And thus he sung his last good-morrow: 
"My arm it is my country's right, 

My heart is in my true-love's bower; 
Gaily for love and fame to fight 

Befits the gallant Troubadour." 

And while he march'd with helm on head 

And harp in hand, the descant rung, 
As, faithful to his favourite maid, 

The minstrel-burden still he sung: 
"My arm it is my country's right, 

My heart is in my lady's bower ; 
Resolved for love and fame to fight, 

I come, a gallant Troubadour." 

Even when the battle-roar was deep, 
With dauntless heart he hew'd his way, 

'Mid splintering lance and falchion-sweep, 
And still was heard his warrior-lay; 

1 The original of this ballad also was written and composed by 
the Duchesse de St. Leu. The translation has been set to music 
by Mr. Thomson. See his collection of Scottish Songs. 1826.] 



340 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

"My life it is my country's right, 
My heart is in my lady's bower; 

For love to die, for fame to fight, 
Becomes the valiant Troubadour." 

Alas! upon the bloody field 

He fell beneath the foeman's glaive, 
But still reclining on his shield, 

Expiring sung the exulting stave: — 
"My life it is my country's right, 

My heart is in my lady's bower; 
For love and fame to fall in fight 

Becomes the valiant Troubadour." 



FROM THE FRENCH. 1 



It chanced that Cupid on a season, 

By Fancy urged, resolved to wed, 
But could not settle whether Reason 

Or Folly should partake his bed. 

What does he then? — Upon my life, 

'Twas bad example for a deity — 
He takes me Reason for a wife, 

And Folly for his hours of gaiety. 

Though thus he dealt in petty treason, 
He loved them both in equal measure; 

Fidelity was born of Reason, 

And Folly brought to bed of Pleasure. 

1 [This trifle also is from the French Collection, found at Wa- 
terloo. — See Paul's Letters.] 



341 



SONG, 



FOR THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE 
PITT CLUB OF SCOTLAND. 

[1814] 



O, dread was the time, and more dreadful the omen, 

When the brave on Marengo lay slaughter'd in vain, 
And beholding broad Europe bow'd down by her foe- 
men, 

Pitt closed in his anguish the map of her reign ! 
Not the fate of broad Europe could bend his brave 
spirit 

To take for his country the safety of shame ; 
O, then in her triumph remember his merit, 

And hallow the goblet that flows to his name. 

Round the husbandman's head, while he traces the 
furrow, 
The mists of the winter may mingle with rain, 
He may plough it with labour, and sow it in sorrow, 

And sigh while he fears he has sow'd it in vain ; 
He may die ere his children shall reap in their glad- 
ness, 
But the blithe harvest-home shall remember his 
claim ; 
And their jubilee-shout shall be soften'd with sadness, 
While they hallow the goblet that flows to his name. 
29* 



342 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Though anxious and timeless his life was expended, 

In toils for our country preserved by his care, 
Though he died ere one ray o'er the nations ascended, 

To light the long darkness of doubt and despair ; 
The storms he endured in our Britain's December, 

The perils his wisdom foresaw and o'ercame, 
In her glory's rich harvest shall Britain remember, 

And hallow the goblet that flows to his name. 

Nor forget His grey head, who, all dark in affliction, 

Is deaf to the tale of our victories won, 
And to sounds the most dear to paternal affection, 

The shout of his people applauding his Son ; 
By his firmness unmoved in success and disaster, 

By his long reign of virtue, remember his claim ! 
With our tribute to Pitt join the praise of his Master, 

Though a tear stain the goblet that flows to his 
name. 

Yet again fill the wine-cup, and change the sad mea- 
sure, 
The rites of our grief and our gratitude paid, 
To our Prince, to our Heroes, devote the bright trea- 
sure, 
The wisdom that plann'd, and the zeal that obey'd ! 
Fill Wellington's cup till it beam like his glory, 

Forget not our own brave Dalhousie and Gr^me ; 
A thousand years hence hearts shall bound at their 
story, 
And hallow the goblet which flows to their fame. 



343 



SONG, 



ON THE LIFTING OF 
THE BANNER OF THE HOUSE OF BUCCLEUCH, 

AT A GREAT FOOT-BALL MATCH ON CARTERHAUGH. 1 



From the brown crest of Newark its summons extending, 
Our signal is waving in smoke and in flame ; 

And each forester blithe, from his mountain descending, 
Bounds light o'er the heather to join in the game. 

CHORUS. 

Then up with the Banner, let forest winds fan her, 
She has blazed over Ettrick eight ages and wore ; 
In sport we'll attend her, in battle defend her. 
With heart and with hand, like our fathers before. 

When the Southern invader spread waste and disorder, 
At the glance of her crescents he paused and with- 
drew, 
For around them were marshall'd the pride of the 
Border, 
The Flowers of the Forest, the Bands of Buccleuch. 
Then up with the Banner, &c. 

A Stripling's weak hand 2 to our revel has borne her, 
No mail-glove has grasp'd her, no spearmen sur- 
round ; 

1 [This song appears with music in Mr. G. Thomson's Collection 
— 1826. The foot-ball match on which it was written took place 
on December 5, 1815, and was also celebrated by the Ettrick 
Shepherd.] 

2 [The bearer of the standard was the Author's eldest son.] 



344 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

But ere a bold foeman should scathe or should scorn her, 
A thousand true hearts would be cold on the ground. 
Then up with the Banner, &c. 

We forget each contention of civil dissension, 

And hail, like our brethren, Home, Douglas, and Car : 

And Elliot and Prlygle in pastime shall mingle, 

As welcome in peace as their fathers in war. 

Then up with the Banner, &c. 

Then strip, lads, and to it, though sharp be the wea- 
ther, 
And if, by mischance, you should happen to fall, 
There are worse things in life than a tumble on heather, 
And life is itself but a game at foot-ball. 
Then up with the Banner, &c. 

And when it is over, we'll drink a blithe measure 

To each Laird and each Lady that witness' d our fun, 
And to every blithe heart that took part in our plea- 
sure, 
To the lads that have lost and the lads that have won. 
Then up w 7 ith the Banner, &c. 

May the Forest still flourish, both Borough and Land- 
ward, 
From the hall of the Peer to the Herd's ingle-nook ; 
And huzza ! my brave hearts, for Buccleuch and his 
Standard, 
For the King and the Country, the Clan and the 
Duke ! 

Then up with the Banner, let forest winds fan her, 
She has blazed over Ettrick eight ages and more ; 

In sport we'll attend her, in battle defend her, 

With heart and with hand, like our fathers before. 



345 



JOCK OF HAZELDEAN. 

Air — "A Border Melody" 



The first stanza of this Ballad is ancient The others were 
written for Mr. Campbell's Albyrfs Anthology. 

[1816.] 



L 

" Why weep ye by the tide, ladie ? 

Why weep ye by the tide? 
I'll wed ye to my youngest son, 

And ye sail be his bride: 
And ye sail be his bride, ladie, 

Sae comely to be seen" — 
But aye she loot the tears down fa' 

For Jock of Hazeldean. 

II. 

" Now let this wilful grief be done, 

And dry that cheek so pale ; 
Young Frank is chief of Errington, 

And lord of Langley-dale ; 
His step is first in peaceful ha', 

His sword in battle keen" — 
But aye she loot the tears down fa' 

For Jock of Hazeldean. 



346 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

III. 

" A chain of gold ye sail not lack, 

Nor braid to bind your hair; 
Nor mettled hound, nor managed hawk, 

Nor palfrey fresh and fair; 
And you, the foremost o' them a', 

Shall ride our forest queen" — 
But aye she loot the tears down fa' 

For Jock of Hazeldean. 

IV. 

The kirk was deck'd at morning-tide, 

The tapers glimmer'd fair; 
The priest and bridegroom wait the bride, 

And dame and knight are there. 
They sought her baith by bower and ha' ; 

The ladie was not seen! 
She's o'er the Border, and awa* 
Wi' Jock of Hazeldean. 






347 

LULLABY OF AN INFANT CHIEF. 

Air — " Cadulgu to." 1 



I. 

O, hush thee, my babie, thy sire was a knight, 
Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright; 
The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see, 
They all are belonging, dear babie, to thee. 

O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo, 

O ho ro, i ri ri, &c. 

II. 
O, fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows, 
It calls but the warders that guard thy repose ; 
Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red, 
Ere the step of a foeman draws near to thy bed. 
O ho ro, i ri ri, &c. 

III. 
O, hush thee, my babie, the time soon will come, 
When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum ; 
Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may, 
For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day. 
O ho ro, i ri ri, &c. 

1 " Sleep on till day." These words, adapted to a melody some- 
what different from the original, are sung in my friend Mr. 
Terry's drama of " Guy Mannering." [The " Lullaby" was first 
printed in Mr. Terry's drama : it was afterwards set to music in 
Thomson's Collection, 1822.] 



34S 



PIBROCH OF DONALD DHU. 

Air — " Piobair of Donuil Dhuidh" l 



This is a very ancient pibroch belonging to Clan MacDonald, 
and supposed to refer to the expedition of Donald Balloch, 
who, in 1431, launched from the Isles with a considerable 
force, invaded Lochaber, and at Inverlochy defeated and put 
to flight the Earls of Mar and Caithness, though at the head 
of an army superior to his own. The words of the set, theme, 
or melody, to which the pipe variations are applied, run thus 
in Gaelic: — 

Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil ; 
Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil ; 
Piobaireachd Dhonuil Dhuidh, piobaireachd Dhonuil ; 
Piob agus bratach air faiche Inverlochi. 
The pipe-summons of Donald the Black, 
The pipe-summons of Donald the Black, 
The war-pipe and the pennon are on the gathering-place at 
Inverlochy. 2 



Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, 

Pibroch of Donuil, 
Wake thy wild voice anew, 

Summon Clan-Conuil. 



1 " The pibroch of Donald the Black." [This song was written 
for Campbell's Albyn's Anthology, 1816. It may also be seen, 
set to music, in Thomson's Collection, 1830.] 

2 [Compare this with the gathering-song in the third canto of 
the Lady of the Lake, ante.] 



PIBROCH OF DONALD DHU. 349 

Come away, come away, 

Hark to the summons ! 
Come in your war array, 

Gentles and commons. 

Come from deep glen, and 

From mountain so rocky, 
The war-pipe and pennon 

Are at Inverlochy. 
Come every hill-plaid, and 

True heart that wears one, 
Come every steel blade, and 

Strong hand that bears one. 
Leave untended the herd, 

The flock without shelter ; 
Leave the corpse uninterr'd, 

The bride at the altar ; 
Leave the deer, leave the steer, 

Leave nets and barges ; 
Come with your fighting gear, 

Broadswords and targes. 

Come as the winds come, when 

Forests are rended ; 
Come as the waves come, when 

Navies are stranded : 
Faster come, faster come, 

Faster and faster, 
Chief, vassal, page, and groom, 

Tenant and master. 
Fast they come, fast they come ; 

See how they gather! 
Vol. V. 30 



350 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Wide waves the eagle plume, 

Blended with heather. 
Cast your plaids, draw your blades, 

Forward each man set ! 
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, 

Knell for the onset ! 



NORA'S VOW. 

Air — " Cha teid mis a chaoidh." 1 
WRITTEN FOR ALBYNS ANTHOLOGY, [1816.] * 



In the original Gaelic, the Lady makes protestations that she will 
not go with the Red EarVs son, until the swan should build in 
the cliff', and the eagle in the lake — until one mountain should 
change places with another, and so forth. It is but fair to 
add, that there is no authority for supposing that she altered 
her mind — except the vehemence of her protestation. 



L 
Hear what Highland Nora said, 
" The Earlie's son I will not wed, 
Should all the race of nature die, 
And none be left but he and L 
For all the gold, for all the gear, 
And all the lands both far and near, 
That ever valour lost or won, 
I would not wed the Earlie's son." 

1 1 will never go with him." 

2 [See also Mr. Thomson's Scottish Collection, 1822.] 



nora's vow. 351 

II. 

" A maiden's vows," old Galium spoke, 
" Are lightly made, and lightly broke ; 
The heather on the mountain's height 
Begins to bloom in purple light; 
The frost-wind soon shall sweep away 
That lustre deep from glen and brae; 
Yet Nora, ere its bloom be gone, 
May blithely wed the Earlie's son." — 

III. 

" The swan," she said, " the lake's clear breast 

May barter for the eagle's nest; 

The Awe's fierce stream may backward turn, 

Ben-Cruaichan fall, and crush Kilchurn ; 

Our kilted clans, when blood is high, 

Before their foes may turn and fly; 

But I, were all these marvels done, 

Would never wed the Earlie's son." 

IV. 

Still in the water-lily's shade 

Her wonted nest the wild swan made; 

Ben-Cruaichan stands as fast as ever, 

Still downward foams the Awe's fierce river; 

To shun the clash of foeman's steel, 

No Highland brogue has turn'd the heel ; 

But Nora's heart is lost and won, 

— She V wedded to the Earlie's son! 



352 



MACGREGOR'S GATHERING. 

Air — " Thairi a Grigalach." ■ 
WRITTEN FOR ALBYNS ANTHOLOGY. [1816.] 



These verses are adapted to a very wild, yet lively gathering-tune, 
used by the MacGregors. The severe treatment of this Clan, 
their outlawry, and the proscription of their very name, are 
aUuded to in the Ballad. 2 



The moon 's on the lake, and the mist 's on the brae, 
And the Clan has a name that is nameless by day ; 

Then gather, gather, gather Grigalach ! 

Gather, gather, gather, &c. 

Our signal for fight, that from monarchs we drew, 
Must be heard but by night in our vengeful haloo ! 

Then haloo, Grigalach ! haloo, Grigalach ! 

Haloo, haloo, haloo, Grigalach, &c. 

Glen Orchy's proud mountains, Coalchuirn and her 

towers, 
Glenstrae and Glenlyon no longer are ours ; 

We 're landless, landless, landless, Grigalach ! 

Landless, landless, landless, &c. 



1 " The MacGregor is come." 

a [For the history of the clan, see Introduction to Rob Roy — 
Waverley Novels, vol. vil] 



macgregor's gathering. 353 

But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord, 
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword ! 

Then courage, courage, courage, Grigalach ! 

Courage, courage, courage, &c. 

If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles, 
Give their roofs to the flame, and their flesh to the 
eagles ! 
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Griga- 
lach ! 
Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, &c. 

While there's leaves in the forest, and foam on the 
river, 

MacGregor, despite them, shall flourish forever ! 
Come then, Grigalach, come then, Grigalach, 
Come then, come then, come then, &c. 

Through the depths of Loch Katrine the steed shall 

career, 
O'er the peak of Ben-Lomond the galley shall steer, 
And the rocks of Craig Royston 1 like icicles melt, 
Ere our wrongs be forgot, or our vengeance unfelt ! 

Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach ! 

Gather, gather, gather, &c. 

1 [" Rob Roy MacGregor' s own designation was of Innersnaid ; 
but he appears to have acquired a right of some hind or other to 
the property or possession of Craig Royston, a domain of rock 
and forest, lying on the east side of Loch Lomond, where that 
beautiful lake stretches into the dusky mountains of Glenfalloch." 
— Introduction to Rob Roy, Waverley Novels, vol. vii. p. 31.] 
30* 



354 



DONALD CAIRD'S COME AGAIN. 1 

Air — " Malcolm Caird 1 s come agairu" 2 



CHORUS, 



Donald Caird 9 s come again ! 
Donald Caird 9 s come again ! 
Tell the news in brugh and glen, 
Donald Caird? s come again ! 

Donald Caird can lilt and sing, 
Blithely dance the Hieland fling, 
Drink till the gudeman be blind, 
Fleech till the gudewife be kind ; 
Hoop a leglin, clout a pan, 
Or crack a pow wi' ony man ; 
Tell the news in brugh and glen, 
Donald Caird's come again. 

Donald Caird's come again ! 
Donald Caird 9 s come again ! 
Tell the news in brugh and glen, 
Donald Caird 9 s come again. 

Donald Caird can wire a maukin, 
Kens the wiles o' dun-deer staukin, 

1 [Written for Albyn's Anthology, vol. ii., 1818, and set to 
music in Mr. Thomson's Collection, in 1822.] 
3 Caird signifies Tinker. 



DONALD CAIRD^S COME AGAIN. 355 

Leisters kipper, makes a shift 

To shoot a muir-fowl in the drift; 

Water-bailiffs, rangers, keepers, 

He can wauk when they are sleepers; 

Not for bountith or reward 

Dare ye mell wi' Donald Caird. 

Donald Caird 9 s come again! 
Donald Caird 9 s come again 1 
Gar the bagpipes hum amain, 
Donald Caird 9 s come again. 

Donald Caird can drink a tgill 
Fast as hostler-wife can fill; 
Ilka ane that sells gude liquor 
Kens how Donald bends a bicker; 
When he's fou he's stout and saucy, 
Keeps the can tie of the cawsey ; 
Highland chief and Lawland laird 
Maun gie room to Donald Caird! 

Donald Cawd 9 s come again ! 
Donald Caird 9 s come again ! 
Tell the news in brugh and glen, 
Donald Caird 9 s come again. 

Steek the amrie, lock the kist, 
Else some gear may weel be mist; 
Donald Caird finds orra things 
Where Allan Gregor fand the tings; 
Dunts of kebbuck, taits of woo, 
Whiles a hen and whiles a sow, 
Webs or duds frae hedge or yard — 
'Ware the wuddie, Donald Caird! 



356 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES, 

Donald Caird' s come again ! 
Donald Caird 9 s come again ! 
Dinna let the Shirr a ken 
Donald Caird' s come again. 

On Donald Caird the doom was stern, 
Craig to tether, legs to aim ; 
But Donald Caird wi' mickle study, 
Caught the gift to cheat the wuddie; 
Rings of aim, and bolts of steel, 
Fell like ice frae hand and heel ! 
Watch the sheep in fauld and glen, 
Donald Caird's come again ! 

Donald Caird' s come again ! 
Donald Caird '$ come again ! 
Dinna let the Justice ken 
Donald Caird' s come again ! l 



1 [Mr. D. Thomson, of Galashiels, produced a parody on this 
song at an annual dinner of the manufacturers there, which Sir 
Walter Scott usually attended ; and the Poet was highly amused 
with a sly allusion to his two-fold character of Sheriff of Selkirk- 
shire, and author-suspect of " Rob Roy," in the chorus, — 

" Think ye, does the Shh ra ken 
Rob McGregor's come again?' 1 ] 



■ 



357 

MACKRIMMON'S LAMENT. 1 

Air— "Cha till mi tuille"* 



Mackrimmon, hereditary piper to the Laird of Macleod, is said 
to have composed this Lament when the Clan was about to 
depart upon a distant and dangerous expedition*. The Min- 
strel was impressed with a belief, vrttich the event verified, that 
he was to be slain in the approaching feud ; and hence the 
Gaelic words, " Cha till mi tuille ; ged thillis Macleod, cha 
till Mackrimmon," " I shall never return ; although Macleod 
returns, yet Mackrimmon shall never return f" The piece is 
but too well known, from its being the strain with which the 
emigrants from the West Highlands and Isles usually take 
leave of their native shore. 



Macleod's wizard flag from the grey castle sallies, 

The rowers are seated, unmoor'd are the galleys ; 

Gleam war-axe and broadsword, clang target and 
quiver, 

As Mackrimmon sings, " Farewell to Dunvegan for 
ever! 

Farewell to each cliff, on which breakers are foaming; 

Farewell, each dark glen, in which red-deer are roam- 
ing; 

Farewell, lonely Skye, to lake, mountain, and river ; 

Macleod may return, but Mackrimmon shall never ! 

" Farewell the bright clouds that on Q,uillan are sleep- 
ing; 
Farewell the bright eyes in the Dun that are weeping ; 



1 [Written for Albyn's Anthology, vol iL 1818.] 

2 " We return no more." 



358 ON ETTRICK FOREST'S MOUNTAINS DUN. 

To each minstrel delusion, farewell ! — and for ever — 

Mackrimmon departs, to return to you never I 

The Banshee's wild voice sings the death-dirge before 

me, 1 
The pall of the dead for a mantle hangs o'er me; 
But my heart shall not flag, and my nerves shall not 

shiver, 
Though devoted I go — to return again never! 

" Too oft shall the notes of Mackrimmon's bewailing 
Be heard when the Gael on their exile are sailing; 
Dear land ! to the shores, whence unwilling we sever. 
Return — return — return shall we never! 

Cha till, cha till, cha till sin tuille ! 

Cha till, cha till, cha till sin tuille, 

Cha till, cha till, cha till sin tuille, 

Gea thillis Macleod, cha till Mackrimmon !" 



ON ETTRICK FOREST'S MOUN- 
TAINS DUN. 3 



On Ettrick Forest's mountains dun, 
'Tis blithe to hear the sportsman's gun, 

1 [See a note on Banshee, Lady of the Lake, ante> vol. iii. p. 
109.] 

3 Written after a week's shooting and fishing, in which the 
Poet had been engaged with some friends. [The reader may see 
these verses set to music in Mr. Thomson's Scottish Melodies for 
1822.] 



ON ETTRICK FOREST^ MOUNTAINS DUN. 359 

And seek the heaih-frequenting brood 

Far through the noonday solitude ; 

By many a cairn and trenched mound, 

Where chiefs of yore sleep lone and sound, 

And springs, where grey-hair'd shepherds tell, 

That still the fairies love to dwell. 

Along the silver streams of Tweed, 
'Tis blithe the mimic fly to lead, 
When to the hook the salmon springs, 
And the line whistles through the rings; 
The boiling eddy see him try, 
Then dashing from the current high, 
Till watchful eye and cautious hand 
Have led his wasted strength to land. 

'T is blithe along the midnight tide, 
With stalwart arm the boat to guide ; 
On high the dazzling blaze to rear ; 
And heedful plunge the barbed spear; 
Rock, wood, and scaur, emerging bright, 
Fling on the stream their ruddy light, 
And from the bank our band appears 
Like Genii, arm'd with fiery spears. 1 

'Tis blithe at eve to tell the tale, 
How we succeed, and how we fail, 
Whether at Alwyrrs 2 lordly meal, 

1 [See the famous salmon-spearing scene in Guy Mannering. — 
Waverley Novels, vol. iii., p. 259-63.] 

2 Alwyn, the seat of the Lord Somerville ; now, alas ! unl en- 
anted, by the lamented death of that kind and hospitable noble- 
man, the author's nearest neighbour and intimate friend. [Lord 
S. died in February, 1819.] 



360 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Or lowlier board of Ashestiel ; l 
While the gay tapers cheerly shine, 
Bickers the fire, and flows the wine — 
Days free from thought, and nights from care, 
My blessing on the Forest fair! 



THE SUN UPON THE WEIRDLAW 
HILL. 



Air — ** Rimhin aluin r stu mo run.' 



The air composed by the Editor of Albyn's Anthology. 2 The 
words written for Mr. George Thomson's Scottish Melodies, 
[1822.] 

The sun upon the Weirdlaw Hill, 

In Ettrick's vale, is sinking sweet; 
The westland wind is hush and still, 

The lake lies sleeping at my feet. 
Yet not the landscape to mine eye 

Bears those bright hues that once it bore ; 
Though evening, with her richest dye, 

Flames o'er the hills of Ettricks shore. 

With listless look along the plain, 

I see Tweed's silver current glide, 
And coldly mark the holy fane, 

Of Melrose rise in ruin'd pride. 

1 Ashestiel, the Poet's residence at that time. 

3 [" Nathaniel Gow told me that he got the air from an old 
gentleman, a Mr. Dalrymple of Orangefield, (he thinks,) who had 
it from a friend in the Western Isles, as an old Highland air." 

George Thomson.] 



THE MAID OF ISLA. 361 

The quiet lake, the balmy air, 

The hill, the stream, the tower, the tree, — 
Are they still such as once they were, 

Or is the dreary change in me? 

Alas, the warp'd and broken board, 

How can it bear the painter's dye! 
The harp of strain'd and tuneless chord, 

How to the minstrel's skill reply ! 
To aching eyes each landscape lowers, 

To feverish pulse each gale blows chill; 
And Araby's or Eden's bowers 

Were barren as this moorland hill. 



THE MAID OF ISLA. 

Air — " The Maid of Isla." 

WRITTEN FOR MR. GEORGE THOMSON'S SCOTTISH 
MELODIES. 

[1822.] 



O, Maid of Isla, from the cliff, 

That looks on troubled wave and sky, 
Dost thou not see yon little skiff 

Contend with ocean gallantly? 
Now beating 'gainst the breeze and surge, 

And steep'd her leeward deck in foam, 
Why does she w T ar unequal urge? — 

O, Isla's maid, she seeks her home. 

O, Isla's maid, yon sea-bird mark, 

Her white wing gleams through mist and spray, 
Vol. V. 31 



362 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Against the storm-cloud, lowering dark, 
As to the rock she wheels away; — 

Where clouds are dark, and billows rave, 
Why to the shelter should she come 

Of cliff, exposed to wind and wave? — 
O, maid of Isla, 'tis her home. 

As breeze and tide to yonder skiff, 

Thou'rt adverse to the suit I bring, 
And cold as is yon wintry cliff, 

Where sea-birds close their wearied wing. 
Yet cold as rock, unkind as wave, 

Still, Isla's maid, to thee I come; 
For in thy love, or in his grave, 

Must Allan Vourich find his home. 



THE FORAY. 1 

SET TO MUSIC BY JOHN WHITEFIELD, MUS. DOC. CAM. 



The last of our steers on the board has been spread, 
And the last flask of wine in our goblet is red ; 
Up ! up, my brave kinsmen ! belt swords and begone, 
There are dangers to dare, and there's spoil to be won. 

The eyes, that so lately mix'd glances with ours, 
For a space must be dim, as they gaze from the towers, 
And strive to distinguish, through tempest and gloom, 
The prance of the steed, and the toss of the plume. 

1 [Set to music in Mr. Thomson's Scottish Collection, 1830.] 






THE FORAY. 363 

The rain is descending ; the wind rises loud ; 
And the moon her red beacon has veil'd with a cloud ; 
'Tis the better, my mates ! for the warder's dull eye 
Shall in confidence slumber, nor dream we are nigh. 

Our steeds are impatient ! I hear my blithe Gray ! 
There is life in his hoof-clang, and hope in his neigh ; 
Like the flash of a meteor, the glance of his mane 
Shall marshal your march through the darkness and 
rain. 

The drawbridge has dropp'd, the bugle has blown ; 
One pledge is to quaff yet — then mount and begone! — 
To their honour and peace, that shall rest with the 

slain ; 
To their health and their glee, that see Teviot again ! 



364 

TH 

MONKS OF BANGOR'S MARCH. 

Air — "Ymdaith Mionge" 

WRITTEN FOR MR. GEORGE THOMSONS WELSH MELODIES, 

[1817.] 



Ethelfrid, or Olfrid, King of Northumberland, having ho- 
sieged Chester in 613, and Brockmael, a British Prince t 
advancing to relieve it, the religious of the neighbouring 
Monastery of Bangor marched in procession, to pray for the 
success of their countrymen. But the British being totally 
defeated, the heathen victor put the monks to the sword, and 
destroyed their monastery. The tune to which these verses 
are adapted, is called the Monks* March, and is supposed to 
have been played at their ill-omened procession. 



When the heathen trumpet's clang 
Round beleaguer'd Chester rang, 
Veiled nun and friar grey 
March'd from Bangor's fair Abbaye ; 
High their holy anthem sounds, 
Cestria's vale the hymn rebounds 
Floating down the sylvan Dee, 

O miserere, Domine ! 

On the long procession goes, 
Glory round their crosses glows, 
And the Virgin-mother mild 
In their peaceful banner smiled ; 
Who could think such saintly band 
Doom'd to feel unhallow'd hand? 
Such was the Divine decree, 

miserere, Domine ! 



THE MONKS OF BANGOR's MARCH. 365 

Bands that masses only sung, 
Hands that censers only swung, 
Met the northern bow and bill, 
Heard the war-cry wild and shrill : 
Woe to Brockmael's feeble hand, 
Woe to Olfrid's bloody brand, 
Woe to Saxon cruelty, 

O miserere, Domine! 

Weltering amid warriors slain, 
Spurn'd by steeds with bloody mane, 
Slaughter'd down by heathen blade, 
Bangor's peaceful monks are laid: 
Word of parting rest unspoke, 
Mass unsung, and bread unbroke; 
For their souls for charity, 

Sing, miserere, Domine 1 

Bangor ! o'er the murder wail ! 
Long thy ruins told the tale, 
Shatter'd towers and broken arch 
Long recaU'd the woeful march: 1 
On thy shrine no tapers burn, 
Never shall thy priests return; 
The pilgrim sighs and sings for thee, 
O miserere, Domine ! 



1 William of Malmsbury says, that in his time the extent of 
the ruins of the monastery bore ample witness to the desolation 
occasioned by the massacre; — "tot semiruti parietes ecclesia- 
rum, tot anfractus porticum, tanta turba ruderum quantum vix 
alibi cernas." 

31* 



366 



FAREWELL TO THE MUSE. 1 



Enchantress, farewell, who so oft has decoy'd me, 
At the close of the evening through woodlands to 
roam, 
Where the forester, lated, with wonder espied me 
Explore the wild scenes he was quitting for home. 
Farewell, and take with thee thy numbers w 7 ild speak- 
ing 
The language alternate of rapture and woe : 
Oh ! none but some lover, whose heart-strings are 
breaking, 
The pang that I feel at our parting can know. 

Each joy thou couldst double, and when there came 
sorrow, 

Or pale disappointment to darken my way, 
What voice was like thine, that could sing of to-morrow, 

Till forgot in the strain was the grief of to-day ! 
But when friends drop around us in life's weary waning, 

The grief, Queen of Numbers, thou canst not 
assuage ; 
Nor the gradual estrangement of those yet remaining, 

The languor of pain, and the chillness of age. 

'T was thou that once taught me, in accents bewailing, 
To sing how a warrior lay stretch'd on the plain, 

1 [Written, during illness, for Mr. Thomson's Scottish Collec- 
tion, and first published in 1822, united to an air composed by 
George Kinloch of Kinloch, Esq.] 



EPITAPH ON MRS. ERSKINE. 367 

And a maiden hung o'er him with aid unavailing, 
And held to his lips the cold goblet in vain ; 

As vain thy enchantments, O Queen of wild Numbers, 
To a bard when the reign of his fancy is o'er, 

And the quick pulse of feeling in apathy slumbers — 
Farewell, then — Enchantress ; — I meet thee no 
more. 



EPITAPH ON MRS. ERSKINE/ 

[1819.] 



Plain as her native dignity of mind, 
Arise the tomb of her we have resign'd ; 
Unflaw'd and stainless be the marble scroll, 
Emblem of lovely form, and candid soul. — 
But, oh ! what symbol may avail, to tell 
The kindness, wit, and sense, we loved so well ! 
What sculpture show the broken ties of life, 
Here buried with the parents, friend, and w T ife! 
Or on the tablet stamp each title dear, 
By which thine urn, Euphemia, claims the tear ! 
Yet taught, by thy meek sufferance, to assume 
Patience in anguish, hope beyond the tomb, 
Resign'd, though sad, this votive verse shall flow, 
And brief, alas ! as thy brief span below. 

1 [Mrs. Euphemia Robison, wife of William Erskine, Esq. 
(afterwards Lord Kinedder,) died September, 1819, and was 
buried at Saline in the county of Fife, where these lines are 
inscribed on the tombstone.] 



368 



MR. KEMBLE'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 1 

ON TAKING LEAVE OF THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 



As the worn war-horse, at the trumpet's sound, 
Erects his mane, and neighs, and paws the ground — 

1 [These lines first appeared, April 5, 1817, in a weekly sheet, 
called " The Sale Room," conducted and published by Messrs 
Ballantyne and Co., at Edinburgh. In a note prefixed, Mr. James 
Ballantyne says, " The character fixed upon, with happy pro- 
priety, for Kemble's closing scene, was Macbeth, in which he took 
his final leave of Scotland on the evening of Saturday, the 29th 
March, 1817. He had laboured under a severe cold for a few 
days before, but on this memorable night the physical annoyance 
yielded to the energy of his mind. — ' He was,' he said, in the 
green-room, immediately before the curtain rose, ' determined to 
leave behind him the most perfect specimen of his art which he 
had ever shown ;' and his success was complete. At the moment 
of the tyrant's death the curtain fell by the universal acclamation 
of the audience. The applauses were vehement and prolonged ; 
they ceased — were resumed — rose again — were reiterated — 
and again were hushed. In a few minutes the curtain ascended, 
and Mr. Kemble came forward in the dress of Macbeth, (the 
audience by a consentaneous movement rising to receive him,) 

to deliver his farewell " Mr. Kemble delivered these 

lines with exquisite beauty, and with an effect that was evidenced 
by the tears and sobs of many of the audience. His own emotions 
were very conspicuous. When his farewell was closed, he lin- 
gered long on the stage, as if unable to retire. The house again 
stood up, and cheered him with the waving of hats and long 
shouts of applause. At length, he finally retired, and, in so far 
as regards Scotland, the curtain dropped upon his professional 
life for ever."] 



MR. KEMBLE'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 369 

Disdains the ease his generous lord assigns, 

And longs to rush on the embattled lines, 

So I, your plaudits ringing on mine ear, 

Can scarce sustain to think our parting near; 

To think my scenic hour for ever past, 

And that those valued plaudits are my last. 

Why should we part, while still some powers remain. 

That in your service strive not yet in vain ? 

Cannot high zeal the strength of youth supply, 

And sense of duty fire the fading eye; 

And all the wrongs of age remain subdued 

Beneath the burning glow of gratitude ? 

Ah, no ! the taper, wearing to its close, 

Oft for a space in fitful lustre glows ; 

But all too soon the transient gleam is past, 

It cannot be renew'd, and will not last; 

Even duty, zeal, and gratitude, can wage 

But short-lived conflict with the frosts of age. 

Yes! It were poor, remembering what I was, 

To live a pensioner on your applause, 

To drain the dregs of your endurance dry, 

And take, as alms, the praise I once could buy; 

Till every sneering youth around enquires, 

u Is this the man who once could please our sires ? " 

And scorn assumes compassion's doubtful mien, 

To warn me off from the encumber'd scene. 

This must not be; — and higher duties crave 

Some space between the theatre and the grave, 

That, like the Roman in the capitol, 

I may adjust my mantle ere I fall; 

My life's brief act in public service flown, 

The last, the closing scene, must be my own. 



370 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Here, then, adieu ! while yet some well-graced parts 
May fix an ancient favourite in your hearts, 
Not quite to be forgotten, even when 
You look on better actors, younger men: 
And if your bosoms own this kindly debt 
Of old remembrance, how shall mine forget — 
O, how forget ! — how oft I hither came 
In anxious hope, how oft return'd with fame ! 
How oft around your circle this weak hand 
Has waved immmortal Shakspeare's magic wand, 
Till the full burst of inspiration came, 
And I have felt, and you have fann'd the flame ! 
By mem'ry treasured, while her reign endures, 
Those hours must live — and all their charms are 
yours. 

O favoured Land ! renown'd for arts and arms, 
For manly talent, and for female charms, 
Could this full bosom prompt the sinking line, 
What fervent benedictions now were thine! 
But my last part is play'd, my knell is rung, 
When e'en your praise falls faltering from my tongue ; 
And all that you can hear, or I can tell, 
Is — Friends and Patrons, hail, and fare you well. 



371 



SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS; 1 

OR, 

THE QUEST OF SULTAUN SOLIMAUN. 

WRITTEN IN 1817. 



I. 

O, for a glance of that gay Muse's eye, 
That lighten'd on Bandello's laughing tale, 
And twinkled with a lustre shrewd and sly, 
When Giam Battista hade her vision hail I — 2 
Yet fear not, ladies, the naive detail 
Given by the natives of that land canorous; 
Italian license loves to leap the pale, 
We Britons have the fear of shame before us, 
And, if not wise in mirth, at least must be decorous. 

II. 

In the far eastern clime, no great while since, 
Lived Sultaun Solimaun, a mighty prince, 
Whose eyes, as oft as they perform'd their round, 
Beheld all others' fix'd upon the ground ; 

1 [First published in " The Sale Room, No. V.," February 1, 
1817.] 

2 The hint of the following tale is taken from La Camiscia 
Magica, a novel of Giam Battista Casti. 



372 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Whose ears received the same unvaried phrase, 
" Sultaun ! thy vassal hears, and he obeys ! " 
All have their tastes — this may the fancy strike 
Of such grave folks as pomp and grandeur like ; 
For me, I love the honest heart and warm 
Of Monarch who can amble round his farm, 
Or, when the toil of state no more annoys, 
In chimney corner seek domestic joys — 
I love a prince will bid the bottle pass, 
Exchanging with his subjects glance and glass ; 
In fitting time, can, gayest of the gay, 
Keep up the jest, and mingle in the lay — 
Such Monarchs best our free-born humours suit, 
But Despots must be stately, stern, and mute. 

III. 

This Solimaun, Serendib had in sway — 

And where 's Serendib 1 may some critic say. — 

Good lack, mine honest friend, consult the chart, 

Scare not my Pegasus before I start ! 

If Rennell has it not, you'll find, mayhap, 

The isle laid down in Captain Sindbad's map, — 

Famed mariner ! whose merciless narrations 

Drove every friend and kinsman out of patience, 

Till, fain to find a guest who thought them shorter, 

He deign'd to tell them over to a porter — l 

The last edition see, by Long, and Co., 

Rees, Hurst, and Orme, our fathers in the Row. 

IV. 

Serendib found, deem not my tale a fiction — 
This Sultaun, whether lacking contradiction — 

1 [See the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.] 



THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 373 

(A sort of stimulant which hath its uses, 

To raise the spirits and reform the juices, 

— Sovereign specific for all sorts of cures 

In my wife's practice, and perhaps in yours,) 

The Sultaun lacking this same wholesome bitter, 

Or cordial smooth for prince's palate fitter — 

Or if some Mollah had hag-rid his dreams 

With Degial, Ginnistan, and such wild themes 

Belonging to the Mollah's subtle craft, 

I wot not — but the Sultaun never laugh'd, 

Scarce ate or drank, and took a melancholy 

That scorn'd all remedy profane or holy ; 

In his long list of melancholies, mad, 

Or mazed, or dumb, hath Burton none so bad. 1 



Physicians soon arrived, sage, ware, and tried, 
As e'er scrawl'd jargon in a darken'd room ; 
With heedful glance the Sultaun's tongue they eyed, 
Peep'd in his bath, and God knows where beside, 

And then in solemn accent spoke their doom, 
" His majesty is very far from well." 
Then each to work with his specific fell : 
The Hakim Ibrahim instanter brought 
His unguent Mahazzim al Zerdukkaut, 
While Roompot, a practitioner more wily, 
Relied on his Munaskif al fillfily. 2 
More and yet more in deep array appear, 
And some the front assail, and some the rear ; 

1 [See Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.] 
8 For these hard words see D'Herbelot, or the learned editor 
of the Recipes of Avicenna. 
Vol. V. 32 



374 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Their remedies to reinforce and vary, 

Came surgeon eke, and eke apothecary ; 

Till the tired Monarch, though of words grown chary, 

Yet dropt, to recompense their fruitless labour, 

Some hint about a bowstring or a sabre. 

There lack'd, I promise you, no longer speeches, 

To rid the palace of those learned leeches. 

VI. 

Then was the council calPd — by their advice, 
(They deem'd the matter ticklish all, and nice, 

And sought to shift it off from their own shoulders,) 
Tartars and couriers in all speed were sent, 
To call a sort of Eastern Parliament 

Of feudatory chieftains and freeholders — 
Such have the Persians at this very day, 
My gallant Malcolm calls them couroultai ; — l 
I'm not prepared to show in this slight song 
That to Serendib the same forms belong, — 
E'en let the learn'd go search, and tell me if I'm wrong. 

VII. 

The Omrahs, 2 each with hand on scymitar, 

Gave, like Sempronius, still their voice for war — 

" The sabre of the Sultaun in its sheath 

Too long has slept, nor own'd the work of death ; 

Let the Tambourgi bid his signal rattle, 

Bang the loud gong, and raise the shout of battle ! 

This dreary cloud that dims our sovereign's day, 

Shall from his kindled bosom flit away, 

1 See Sir John Malcolm's admirable History of Persia. 
* Nobility. 



i 



THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 375 

When the bold Lootie wheels his courser round, 
And the arm'd elephant shall shake the ground. 
Each noble pants to own the glorious summons — 
And for the charges — Lo ! your faithful Commons!" 
The Riots who attended in their places 

(Serendib language calls a farmer Riot) 
Look'd ruefully in one another's faces, 

From this oration auguring much disquiet, 
Double assessment, forage, and free quarters ; 
And fearing these as China-men the Tartars, 
Or as the whisker'd vermin fear the mousers, 
Each fumbled in the pocket of his trowsers. 

VIII. 

And next came forth the reverend Convocation, 

Bald heads, white beards, and many a turban green, 
Imaum and Mollah there of every station, 

Santon, Fakir, and Calendar were seen. 
Their votes were various — some advised a Mosque 

With fitting revenues should be erected, 
With seemly gardens and with gay Kiosque, 

To recreate a band of priests selected ; 
Others opined that through the realms a dole 

Be made to holy men, whose prayers might profit 
The Sultaun's weal in body and in soul. 

But their long-headed chief, the Sheik Ul-Sofit, 
More closely touch'd the point ; — "Thy studious mood," 
Quoth he, " O Prince ! hath thicken'd all thy blood, 
And dulPd thy brain with labour beyond measure ; 
Wherefore relax a space and take thy pleasure, 
And toy with beauty, or tell o'er thy treasure; 
From all the cares of state, my Liege, enlarge thee. 
And leave the burden to thy faithful clergy." 



376 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

IX. 

These counsels sage availed not a whit, 

And so the patient (as is not uncommon 
Where grave physicians lose their time and wit) 

Resolved to take advice of an old woman ; 
His mother she, a dame who once was beauteous, 
And still was call'd so by each subject duteous. 
Nov/, whether Fatima was witch in earnest, 

Or only made believe, I cannot say — 
But she profess'd to cure disease the sternest, 

By dint of magic amulet or lay ; 
And, when all other skill in vain was shown, 
She deem'd it fitting time to use her own. 

X. 

" Sympathia magica hath wonders done," 

(Thus did old Fatima bespeak her son,) 

" It works upon the fibres and the pores, 

And thus, insensibly, our health restores, 

And it must help us here. — Thou must endure 

The ill, my son, or travel for the cure. 

Search land and sea, and get, where'er you can, 

The inmost vesture of a happy man, 

I mean his shirt, my son ; which, taken warm 

And fresh from off his back, shall chase your harm, 

Bid every current of your veins rejoice, 

And your dull heart leap light as shepherd-boy's." 

Such was the counsel from his mother came ; — 

I know not if she had some under-game, 

As Doctors have, who bid their patients roam 

And live abroad, when sure to die at home ; 

Or if she thought, that, somehow or another, 

Queen-Regent sounded better than Queen-Mother ; 



THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 377 

But, says the Chronicle, (who will go look it,) 
That such was her advice — the Sultaun took it. 

XL 

All are on board — the Sultaun and his train, 
In gilded galley prompt to plough the main. 

The old Rais 1 was the first who question'd, 
"Whither?" 
They paused — "Arabia," thought the pensive Prince, 
" Was calPd The Happy many ages since — 

For Mokha, Rais." — And they came safely thither. 
But not in Araby, with all her balm, 
Not where Judea weeps beneath her palm, 
Not in rich Egypt, not in Nubian waste, 
Could there the step of happiness be traced. 
One Copt alone profess'd to have seen her smile, 
When Bruce his goblet filPd at infant Nile : 
She bless'd the dauntless traveller as he quafTd, 
But vanish'd from him with the ended draught. 

XII. 

" Enough of turbans," said the w r eary King, 
" These dolimans of ours are not the thing ; 
Try we the Giaours, these men of coat and cap, I 
Incline to think some of them must be happy ; 
At least, they have as fair a cause as any can, 
They drink good wine and keep no Ramazan. 
Then northward, ho ! " — The vessel cuts the sea, 
And fair Italia lies upon her lee. — 
But fair Italia, she who once unfurPd 
Her eagle-banners o'er a conquer'd world, 

1 Master of the vessel. 
32* 



378 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Long from her throne of domination tumbled, 

Lay, by her quondam vassals, sorely humbled ; 

The Pope himself look'd pensive, pale, and lean, 

And was not half the man he once had been. 

" While these the priest and those the noble fleeces, 

Our poor old boot," 1 they said, "is torn to pieces. 

Its tops 2 the vengeful claws of Austria feel, 

And the Great Devil is rending toe and heel. 3 

If happiness you seek, to tell you truly, 

We think she dwells with one Giovanni Bulli; 

A tramontane, a heretic, — the buck, 

Poffaredio ! still has all the luck ; 

By land or ocean never strikes his flag — 

And then — a perfect walking money-bag." 

Off set our Prince to seek John Bull's abode, 

But first took France — it lay upon the road. 

XIII. 

Monsieur Baboon, after much late commotion, 
Was agitated like a settling ocean, 
Quite out of sorts, and could not tell what ail'd him, 
Only the glory of his house had fail'd him ; 
Besides, some tumours on his noddle biding, 
Gave indication of a recent hiding. 4 
Our Prince, though Sultauns of such things are heed- 
less, 
Thought it a thing indelicate and needless 

1 The well-known resemblance of Italy in the map. 

2 Florence, Venice, &c. 

3 The Calabrias, infested by bands of assassins. One of the 
leaders was called Fra Diavolo, L e. Brother Devil. 

4 Or drubbing ; so called in the Slang Dictionary. 



i 



THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 379 

To ask, if at that moment he was happy. 
And Monsieur, seeing that he was comme il faut, a 
Loud voice muster'd up, for " Vive le Roi ! " 

Then whisper'd, " Ave you any news of Nappy?" 
The Sultaun answer'd him with a cross question, — 

" Pray, can you tell me aught of one John Bull, 

That dwells somewhere beyond your herring-pool V 9 
The query seem'd of difficult digestion, 
The party shrugg'd, and grinn'd, and took his snuff, 
And found his whole good-breeding scarce enough. 

XIV. 

Twitching his visage into as many puckers 

As damsels wont to put into their tuckers, 

(Ere liberal Fashion damn'd both lace and lawn, 

And bade the veil of modesty be drawn,) 

Replied the Frenchman, after a brief pause, 

"Jean Bool ! — I vas not know him — Yes, I vas — 

I vas remember dat, von year or two, 

I saw him at von place call'd Vaterloo — 

Ma foi ! il s'est tres joliment battu, 

Dat is for Englishman, — m'entendez-vous ? 

But den he had wit him one damn son-gun, 

Rogue I no like — dey call him Vellington." 

Monsieur's politeness could not hide his fret, 

So Solimaun took leave, and cross'd the strait. 

XV. 

John Bull was in his very worst of moods, 

Raving of sterile farms and unsold goods ; 

His sugar-loaves and bales about he threw, 

And on his counter beat the devil's tattoo. 

His wars were ended, and the victory won, 

But then, 'twas reckoning-day with honest John; 



380 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

And authors vouch, 't was still this Worthy's way, 
" Never to grumble till he came to pay ; 
And then he always thinks, his temper 's such, 
The work too little, and the pay too much." 1 

Yet, grumbler as he is, so kind and hearty, 
That when his mortal foe was on the floor, 
And past the power to harm his quiet more, 

Poor John had wellnigh wept for Bonaparte ! 
Such was the wight whom Solimaun salam'd, — 
" And who are you," John answer'd, " and be d — d ? ' 

XVI. 

" A stranger, come to see the happiest man, — 
So, signior, all avouch, — in Frangistan." — 2 
" Happy ? my tenants breaking on my hand ; 
Unstock'd my pastures, and untill'd my land; 
Sugar and rum a drug, and mice and moths 
The sole consumers of my good broadcloths — 
Happy? — Why, cursed war and racking tax 
Have left us scarcely raiment to our backs." — 
" In that case, signior, I may take my leave ; 

I came to ask a favour — but I grieve" 

" Favour ? " said John, and eyed the Sultaun hard, 
" It 's my belief you came to break the yard ! — 
But, stay, you look like some poor foreign sinner, — 
Take that to buy yourself a shirt and dinner." — 
With that he chuck'd a guinea at his head ; 
But, with due dignity the Sultaun said, 
" Permit me, Sir, your bounty to decline ; 
A shirt indeed I seek, but none of thine. 



1 See the True-Born Englishman, by Daniel De Foe. 

2 Europe. 






THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 381 

Signior, I kiss your hands, so fare you well." 

" Kiss and be d — d," quoth John, " and go to hell ! " 

XVII. 

Next door to John there dwelt his sister Peg, 
Once a wild lass as ever shook a leg 
When the blithe bagbipe blew — but, soberer now, 
She doucely span her flax and milk'd her cow. 
And whereas erst she was a needy slattern, 
Nor now of wealth or cleanliness a pattern, 
Yet once a-month her house was partly swept, 
And once a-week a plenteous board she kept. 
And whereas, eke, the vixen used her claws 

And teeth, of yore, on slender provocation, 
She now has grown amenable to laws, 

A quiet soul as any in the nation ; 
The sole remembrance of her warlike joys 
Was in old songs she sang to please her boys. 
John Bull, whom, in their years of early strife, 
She wont to lead a cat-and-doggish life, 
Now found the woman, as he said, a neighbour, 
Who look'd to the main chance, declined no labour, 
Loved a long grace, and spoke a northern jargon, 
And was d — d close in making of a bargain. 

XVIII. 

The Sultaun enter'd, and he made his leg, 
And with decorum curtsey'd sister Peg ; 
(She loved a book, and knew a thing or two, 
And guess'd at once with whom she had to do.) 
She bade him u Sit into the fire," and took 
Her dram, her cake, her kebbuck from the nook ; 



382 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Ask'd him " about the news from Eastern parts ; 
And of her absent bairns, puir Highland hearts ! 
If peace brought down the price of tea and pepper, 
And if the nitmugs were grown ony cheaper; — 
Were there nae speerings of our Mungo Park — 
Ye '11 be the gentleman that wants the sark ? 
If ye wad buy a web o' auld wife's spinning, 
I '11 warrant ye it 's a weel-wearing linen." 

XIX. 

Then up got Peg, and round the house 'gan scuttle 

In search of goods her customer to nail, 
Until the Sultaun strain'd his princely throttle, 

And hallo'd, — " Ma'am, that is not what I ail. 
Pray, are you happy, ma'am, in this snug glen ? "— 
" Happy?" said Peg; " What for d'ye want to ken? 
Besides, just think upon this by-gane year, 

Grain wadna pay the yoking of the pleugh." — 
fc What say you to the present V 9 — " Meal 's sae dear, 

To mak their brose my bairns have scarce aneugh." — 
" The devil take the shirt," said Solimaun, 
" I think my quest will end as it began. — 

Farewell, ma'am ; nay, no ceremony, I beg" 

" Ye '11 no be for the linen then ? " said Peg. 

XX. 

Now, for the land of verdant Erin, 

The Sultaun's royal bark is steering, 

The Emerald Isle, where honest Paddy dwells, 

The cousin of John Bull, as story tells. 

For a long space had John, with words of thunder, 

Hard looks, and harder knocks, kept Paddy under, 

Till the poor lad, like boy that's flogg'd unduly. 

Had gotten somewhat restive and unruly. 



THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. 383 

Hard was his lot and lodging, you'll allow, 
A wigwam that would hardly serve a sow ; 
His landlord, and of middle-men two brace, 
Had screw'd his rent up to the starving-place ; 
His garment was a top-coat, and an old one, 
His meal was a potato, and a cold one ; 
But still for fun or frolic, and all that, 
In the round world was not the match of Pat. 

XXI. 
The Sultaun saw him on a holiday 
Which is with Paddy still a jolly day : 
When mass is ended, and his load of sins 
Confess'd, and Mother Church hath from her binns 
Dealt forth a bonus of imputed merit, 
Then is Pat's time for fancy, whim, and spirit ! 
To jest, to sing, to caper fair and free, 
And dance as light as leaf upon the tree. 
" By Mahomet," said Sultaun Solimaun, 
" That ragged fellow is our very man ! 
Rush in and seize him — do not do him hurt, 
But, will he nill he, let me have his shirt" 

XXII. 
Shilela their plan was wellnigh after balking, 
(Much less provocation will set it a-walking,) 
But the odds that foil'd Hercules foil'd Paddy Whack ; 
They seized, and they floor'd, and they stripp'd him — 
Alack ! 

Up-bubboo ! Paddy had not a shirt to his back ! ! 

And the King, disappointed, with sorrow and shame, 
Went back to Serendib as sad as he came. 



384 



EPILOGUE TO THE APPEAL. 1 

SPOKEN BY MRS. HENRY SIDDONS, 
Feb. 16, 1813. 



A cat of yore (or else old ./Esop lied) 

Was changed into a fair and blooming bride, 

But spied a mouse upon her marriage-day, 

Forgot her spouse, and seized upon her prey ; 

Even thus my bridegroom lawyer, as you saw, 

Threw off poor me, and pounced upon papa. 

His neck from Hymen's mystic knot made loose, 

He twisted round my sire's the literal noose. 

Such are the fruits of our dramatic labour, 

Since the New Jail became our next-door neighbour. 2 

Yes, times are changed ; for, in your father's age, 
The lawyers were the patrons of the stage ; 
However high advanced by future fate, 
There stands the bench {points to the Pit) that first 
received their weight. 

1 [" The Appeal," a Tragedy, by John Gait, the celebrated au- 
thor of the "Annals of the Parish," and other Novels, was played 
for four nights at this time in Edinburgh.] 

2 It is necessary to mention, that the allusions in this piece are 
all local, and addressed only to the Edinburgh audience. The 
new prisons of the city, on the Calton Hill, are not far from the 
theatre. 



i 

i 



EPILOGUE TO THE APPEAL. 385 

The future legal sage, 't was ours to see, 

Doom though unwigg'd, and plead without a fee. 

But now, astounding each poor mimic elf, 
Instead of lawyers comes the law herself; 
Tremendous neighbour, on our right she dwells, 
Builds high her towers and excavates her cells ; 
While on the left, she agitates the town, 
With the tempestuous question, Up or down? 1 
'Twixt Scylla and Charybdis thus stand we, 
Law's final end, and law's uncertainty. 
But, soft ! who lives at Rome the Pope must flatter, 
And jails and lawsuits are no jesting matter. 
Then — just farewell ! We wait with serious awe 
Till your applause or censure gives the law. 
Trusting our humble efforts may assure ye, 
We hold you Court and Counsel, Judge and Jury. 

1 At this time, the public of Edinburgh was much agitated by 
a lawsuit betwixt the Magistrates and many of the Inhabitants 
of the City, concerning a range of new buildings on the western 
side of the North Bridge ; which the latter insisted should be 
removed as a deformity. 



Vol. V. 33 



386 

EPILOGUE 

TO THE DRAMA FOUNDED ON " ST. RONAN'S WELL." 



[" After the play, the following humorous address (ascribed to 
an eminent literary character) was spoken with infinite effect 
by Mr. Mackay, in the character of Meg Dodds." — Edinburgh 
Weekly Journal, 9th June, 1824.] 



[Enter Meg Dodds, encircled by a crowd of unruly 
boys, whom a toion's -officer is driving off.~\ 

That's right, friend — drive the gaitlings back, 
And lend yon muckle ane a whack ; 
Your Embro' bairns are grown a pack, 

Sae proud and saucy, 
They scarce will let an auld wife walk 

Upon your causey. 

I've seen the day they would been scaur'd, 
Wi' the Tolbooth, or wi' the Guard, 
Or maybe wud hae some regard 

For Jamie Laing — l 
The Water-hole 2 was right weel wared 

On sic a gang. 

1 [James Laing was one of the Depute-Clerks of the city of 
Edinburgh, and in his official connexion with the Police and the 
Council-Chamber, his name was a constant terror to evil-doers. 
He died in February, 1806.] 

2 [The Watch-hole.] 



EPILOGUE TO ST. RONAn's WELL. 387 

But whar's the gude Tolbooth 1 gane now? 
Whar's the auld Claught, 2 wi' red and blue? 
Whar's Jamie Laing? and whar's John Doo'? 3 

And whar's the Weigh-house? 4 
Deil hae't I see but what is new, 

Except the Playhouse ! 

Yoursells are changed frae head to heel, 
There's some that gar the causeway reel 
With clashing hufe and rattling wheel, 

And horses canterin', 
Wha's fathers' daundered hame as weel 

Wi' lass and lantern. 

Mysell being in the public line, 

I look for howfs I kenn'd lang syne, 

Whar gentles used to drink gude wine, 

And eat cheap dinners; 
But deil a soul gangs there to dine, 

Of saints or sinners ! 



1 [The Tolbooth of Edinburgh, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, was 
pulled down in 1817.] 

2 [The ancient Town Guard. The reduced remnant of this 
body of police was finally disbanded in 1817.] 

3 [John Doo, or Dhu — a terrific-looking and high-spirited mem- 
ber of the Town Guard, and of whom there is a print by Kay, 
etched in 1784.] 

4 [The Weigh-House, situated at the head of the West Bow, 
Lawnmarket, and which had long been looked upon as an encum- 
brance to the street, was demolished in order to make way for 
the royal procession to the Castle, which took place on the 22d 
of August, 1822.] 



388 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Fortune's 1 and Hunter's 2 gane, alas! 
And Bayle's 3 is lost in empty space; 
And now if folk would splice a brace, 

Or crack a bottle, 
They gang to a new-fangled place 

They ca' a Hottle. 

The deevil Hottle them for Meg ! 
They are sae greedy and sae gleg, 
That if ye 're served but wi' an egg, 

(And that's puir picking,) 
In comes a chiel and makes a leg, 

And charges chicken ! 

"And wha may ye be," gin ye speer, 
"That brings your auld-warld clavers here?" 
Troth, if there 's onybody near 

That kens the roads, 
I'll haud ye Burgundy to beer, 

He kens Meg Dodds. 

1 [Fortune's Tavern — a house on the west side of the Old 
Stamp Office Close, High Street, and which was, in the early- 
part of the last century, the mansion of the Earl of Eglintoun. — 
The Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the 
day held his levees and dinners in this tavern.] 

2 [Hunter's — another once much-frequented tavern, in Writer's 
Court, Royal Exchange.] 

3 [Bayle's Tavern and Coffeehouse, originally on the North 
Bridge, east side, afterwards in Shakspeare Square, but removed 
to admit of the opening of Waterloo Place. Such was the digni- 
fied character of this house, that the waiter always appeared in 
full dress, and nobody was admitted who had not a white neck- 
cloth — then considered an indispensable insignium of a gentle- 
man.] 



EPILOGUE TO ST. RONAN's WELL. 389 

I came a piece frae west o' Currie ; 
And, since I see you're in a hurry, 
Your patience I'll nae langer worry, 

But be sae crouse 
As speak a word for ane Will Murray, 1 

That keeps this house. 

Plays are auld-fashion'd things, in truth, 
And ye 've seen wonders more uncouth ; 
Yet actors should na suffer drouth, 

Or want of dramock, 
Although they speak but wi' their mouth, 

Not with their stamock. 

But ye take care of a' folk's pantry ; 

And surely to hae stooden sentry 

Ower this big house, (that's far frae rent-free,) 

For a lone sister, 
Is claims as gude's to be a ventri — 

How'st ca'd — loquister. 

Weel, sirs, gude'en, and have a care, 
The bairns mak fun o' Meg nae mair; 
For gin they do, she tells you fair, 

And without failzie, 
As sure as ever ye sit there, 

She'll tell the Bailie. 



1 [Mr. Wm. Murray became manager of the Edinburgh Thea- 
tre in 1815.] 
33* 



390 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 



EPILOGUE. 1 



The sages — for authority, pray, look 

Seneca's morals, or the copy-book — 

The sages, to disparage woman's power, 

Say, beauty is a fair, but fading flower; — 

I cannot tell — I've small philosophy — 

Yet, if it fades, it does not surely die, 

But, like the violet, when decay'd in bloom, 

Survives through many a year in rich perfume. 

Witness our theme to-night, two ages gone, 

A third wanes fast, since Mary fill'd the throne. 

Brief was her bloom, with scarce one sunny day, 

'Twixt Pinkie's field and fatal Fotheringay : 

But when, while Scottish hearts and blood you boast, 

Shall sympathy with Mary's woes be lost? 

O'er Mary's memory the learned quarrel, 

By Mary's grave the poet plants his laurel, 

Time's echo, old tradition, makes her name 

The constant burden of his falt'ring theme; 

In each old hall his grey-hair'd heralds tell 

Of Mary's picture, and of Mary's cell, 

And show — my fingers tingle at the thought — 

The loads of tapestry which that poor Queen wrought. 

1 ["I recovered the above with some difficulty. I believe it 
was never spoken, bat written for some play, afterwards with- 
drawn, in which Mrs. H. Siddons was to have spoken it in the 
character of Queen Mary." — Extract from a Letter of Sir Wal- 
ter Scott to Mr. Constable, 22d October, 1824.] 



INSCRIPTION. 391 

In vain did fate bestow a double dower 

Of ev'ry ill that waits on rank and pow'r, 

Of ev'ry ill on beauty that attends — 

False ministers, false lovers, and false friends. 

Spite of three wedlocks so completely curst, 

They rose in ill from bad to worse, and worst, 

In spite of errors — I dare not say more, 

For Duncan Targe lays hand on his claymore. 

In spite of all, however humours vary, 

There is a talisman in that word Mary, 

That unto Scottish bosoms all and some 

Is found the genuine open sesamum ! 

In history, ballad, poetry, or novel, 

It charms alike the castle and the hovel, 

Even you — forgive me — who, demure and shy, 

Gorge not each bait, nor stir at every fly, 

Must rise to this, else in her ancient reign 

The Rose of Scotland has survived in vain. 



INSCRIPTION 

FOR THE MONUMENT OF THE REV. GEORGE SCOTT. 1 



To youth, to age, alike, this tablet pale 
Tells the brief moral of its tragic tale. 
Art thou a parent? Reverence this bier, 
The parents' fondest hopes lie buried here. 

1 [This young gentleman, a son of the Author's friend and 
relation, Hugh Scott of Harden, Esq., became Rector of Kentis- 
beare, in Devonshire, in 1828, and died there the 9th June, 1830, 
This epitaph appears on his tomb in the chancel there.] 



i 



392 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

Art thou a youth, prepared on life to start, 

With opening talents and a generous heart, 

Fair hopes and flattering prospects all thine own? 

Lo! here their end — a monumental stone. 

But let submission tame each sorrowing thought, 

Heaven crown'd its champion ere the fight was fought 



THE BANNATYNE CLUB. 



I. 

Assist me, ye friends of Old Books and Old Wine, 
To sing in the praises of sage Bannatyne, 
Who left such a treasure of old Scottish lore 
As enables each age to print one volume more. 

One volume more, my friends, one volume more, 
We'll ransack old Banny for one volume more. 

IL 

And first, Allan Ramsay, was eager to glean 
From Bannatyne's Hortus his bright Evergreen ; 
Two light little volumes (intended for four) 
Still leave us the task to print one volume more. 
One volume more, &c. 

III. 

His ways were not ours, for he cared not a pin 
How much he left out, or how much he put in ; 

1 [Sir Walter Scott was the first President of the Club, and 
wrote these verses for the anniversary dinner of March, 1823.] 



THE BANNATYNE CLUB. 393 

The truth of the reading he thought was a bore, 
So this accurate age calls for one volume more. 
One volume more, &c. 

IV. 

Correct and sagacious, then came my Lord Hailes, 
And weigh'd every letter in critical scales, 
But left out some brief words, which the prudish abhor, 
And castrated Banny in one volume more. 

One volume more, my friends, one volume more ; 
We'll restore Banny's manhood in one volume 
more. 

V. 
John Pinkerton next, and I'm truly concern'd 
I can 't call that worthy so candid as learn'd ; 
He raiFd at the plaid and blasphemed the claymore, 
And set Scots by the ears in his one volume more. 
One volume more, my friends, one volume more, 
Celt and Goth shall be pleased with one volume 
more. 

VI. 
As bitter as gall, and as sharp as a razor, 
And feeding on herbs as a Nebuchadnezzar; 1 
His diet too acid, his temper too sour. 
Little Ritson came out with his two volumes more. 3 
But one volume, my friends, one volume more, 
We'll dine on roast-beef and print one volume 
more. 

1 [In accordance with his own regimen, Mr. Ritson published 
a volume entitled, " An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food 
as a Moral Duty. 1802."] 

2 [See an account of the Metrical Antiquarian Researches of 
Pinkerton, Ritson, and Herd, &c. in the introductory Remarks 



394 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES, 

VII. 

The stout Gothic yeditur, next on the roll, 1 
With his beard like a brush and as black as a coal ; 
And honest Greysteel 2 that was true to the core, 
Lent their hearts and their hands each to one volume 
more. * 

One volume more, &c. 

VIII. 
Since by these single champions what wonders were 

done, 
What may not be achieved by our Thirty and One ? 
Law, Gospel, and Commerce, we count in our corps, 
And the Trade and the Press join for one volume more. 
One volume more, &c. 

IX. 

Ancient libels and contraband books, I assure ye, 
We '11 print as secure from Exchequer or Jury ; 
Then hear vour Committee, and let them count o'er 
The Chiels they intend in their three volumes more. 
Three volumes more, &c. 

X. 

They '11 produce you King Jamie, the sapient and Sext, 
And the Rob of Dumblane and her Bishops come next; 

on Popular Poetry prefixed to the first volume of the Border 
Minstrelsy.] 

1 [James Sibbald, editor of Scottish Poetry, &c, " The Yedi- 
tur," was the name given him by the late Lord Eldin, then Mr. 
John Clerk, advocate. The description of him here is very 
accurate.] 

2 [David Herd, editor of Songs and Historical Ballads. 2 vols. 
He was called Greysteel by his intimates, from having been long 
in unsuccessful quest of the romance of that name.] 



THE BANNATYNE CLUB. 395 

One tome miscellaneous they'll add to your store, 
Resolving next year to print four volumes more. 

Four volumes more, my friends, four volumes 

more; 
Pay down your subscriptions for four volumes 
more. 

1 [This Club was instituted in the year 1822, for the publica- 
tion or reprint of rare and curious works connected with the his- 
tory and antiquities of Scotland. It consisted, at first, of a very 
few members, — gradually extended to one hundred, at which 
number it has now made a final pause. They assume the name 
of the Barmatyne Club from George Bannatyne, of whom little 
is known beyond that prodigious effort which produced his pre- 
sent honours, and is, perhaps, one of the most singular instances 
of its kind which the literature of any country exhibits. His 
labours as an amanuensis were undertaken during the time of 
pestilence, in 1568. The dread of infection had induced him to 
retire into solitude, and under such circumstances he had the 
energy to form and execute the plan of saving the literature of 
the whole nation ; and, undisturbed by the general mourning for 
the dead, and general fears of the living, to devote himself to 
the task of collecting and recording the triumphs of human 
genius in the poetry of his age and country ; — thus, amid the 
wreck of all that was mortal, employing himself in preserving 
the lays by which immortality is at once given to others, and 
obtained for the writer himself. He informs us of some of the 
numerous difficulties he had to contend with in this self-imposed 
task. The volume containing his labours, deposited in the 
Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh, is no less 
than eight hundred pages in length, and very neatly and closely 
written, containing nearly all the ancient poetry of Scotland 
now known to exist. 

This Caledonian association, which boasts several names of 
distinction, both from rank and talent, has assumed rather a 
broader foundation than the parent society, the Roxburghe Club 
in London, which, in its plan, being restricted to the reprinting 
of single tracts, each executed at the expense of an individual 



396 SONGS AND MISCELLANIES. 

member, it follows as almost a necessary consequence, that no 
volume of considerable size has emanated from it, and its range 
has been thus far limited in point of utility. The Bannatyne 
holding the same system with respect to the ordinary species of 
Club reprints, levies, moreover, a fund among" its members of 
about j£500 a-year, expressly to be applied for the editing and 
printing of works of acknowledged importance, and likely to be 
attended with expense beyond the reasonable bounds of an indi- 
vidual's contribution. In this way either a member of the Club, 
or a competent person under its patronage, superintends a par- 
ticular volume, or set of volumes. Upon these occasions, a very 
moderate number of copies are thrown off for general sale ; and 
those belonging to the Club are only distinguished from the 
others by being printed on the paper, and ornamented with the 
decorations, peculiar to the Society. In this way several useful 
and eminently valuable works have recently been given to the 
public for the first time, or at least with a degree of accuracy 
and authenticity which they had never before attained. — Abridg- 
ed from the Quarterly Review — Art. Pitcairri's Ancient Crimi- 
nal Trials. February, 1831.] 



END OF VOLUME FIFTH. 



645 






^"W <* 























































'-> 


















<, 






























































r, 








^ 












; 












, 



^ -TrL 















Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 































■V 



. 
























LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

I 





014 528 797 2 



Stuff 



■fa 






ioraV 



■ 



